Requiem Rising: Falcon's Tears
by Idiotic Brainspark
Summary: What if Shu was the second person to be in the Requiem Project? What if the first person realized their mistake and shows up in Japan to stop powerful bladers from making a big mistake. It's much better than it sounds, trust me.
1. Jade Eye's Escape!

**Welcome to my newest story! Simply put, most of this story begins in the first season. This chapter is from before the show starts. Plus you won't be given a clear idea of who the mystery character is until the second chapter since they are an OC. So, I won't show the picture of them on the cover image till the second chapter.**** This is also my first beyblade burst story so please don't be too judgy!**

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White boots with black heels and laces, black pants with a blue line at both sides. The wearer walked through the forest of Mexico until it came to an ancient Mayan Temple, which was soon revealed to be a high-tech training ground. They were shown in to a darkened room facing a man in a mask with a red line near the eye holes. "Ashtem, this is the best training program in the world, isn't it?" a voice asked. Ashtem nodded, "The very best. But a blader of your level. What would you want to train for?" The voice was quick to reply, "Everything. I don't care what my level or rank is. I'm not good enough." Ashtem smiled sinisterly, "Well, I have just the thing for you." He walked over to a shelf filled with masks, and grabbed one that had dull green eyes, a beaked face and a small opening for their mouth. He set it in front of her, "Once you wear this you will become Jade Eye. The person who cares more about Beyblade than anyone in the world. You will not have distractions from your past, for you will have none. It will be a blank slate, all responsibilities gone until your training is complete. The only thing you will treasure will be your connections to your bey." The figure reaches forward to grab it before they get stopped by Ashtem, "First you must confirm that you really believe you are worthy of being called Jade Eye." The voice sounded angry, "I'll never change my mind! I don't decide on my whims! I decide on the facts." Ashtem smiled, "Well then," he said giving the Jade mask to the figure, "Welcome to the family."

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The same character is walking. On her feet there are four weight rings each, as her arms swing down we see she has four on each of her arms and is dragging behind five weights tied to the harness around her waist. Yet, she is walking normally. She slowly walks the distance of the training room, until she reaches a rock wall. A year might have passed or perhaps two. She didn't know, she didn't keep track of stuff like this. She knew that she had tried every piece of equipment at least five times. Except the rock wall, she had never done the rock wall. She unstrapped her harness and with all the weights on her arms and legs, she skillfully scaled up the wall. Sure it took some time testing her grip and making sure she could support the weight. But at least she did it in one go. As she climbed down she turned to see a kid with light brown hair staring at her. He was weighed down by two only one weight but was obviously struggling to practice on the launch simulator, "That was awesome! How did you do that?" he asked, his eyes glittering with literal starshine. Jade Eye gave one curt word, "Training." then walked away. The kid adjusted his poncho, "Come on! Stop with all the vague answers, Fel-" Jade turned her head back, a scowl on her face, "I meant, Jade Eye." the boy quickly amended. Jade Eye fixed him under her gaze. "The first thing you need to work on is to be serious, Boa." The boy stared at her retreating form, "Serious." he muttered, "When has she ever talked about being serious?" "You know she's right. You could be more serious." another voice sounded, Boa turned to look at a teal-haired boy who was standing behind him. "What do you mean Kajuri?" he asked, bemused. The teal haired boy shrugged, "Most of the bladers here worked hard to get in but you just waltzed in, laughing and joking because some high-ranked member vouched for you. If you don't shape up, your benefactor might change their mind." Boa nodded dumbly, as Kajuri patted his back, "Oh, and Boa? I got promoted. My name is now Azure Eye." The boy grinned as he revealed a mask that he had hidden behind his back. Boa stared at him then stammered, "Good to see one of use is excelling, Azure Eye."

The mystery girl stared down at her bey. It was pure white with streaks of blue, red and green. The Layer had two jutting 'wings' or contact points. "Falcon, why don't you speak? You told me to come here, so why are you upset?" As she stares down at it she hears the creak of a door and then looked up to see Silver Eye in front of her. "Ashtem will see you now." he smiled thinly. Jade Eye walked in and stared at Ashtem. "Yes?" he asked impatiently, Jade Eye stared impassively, "I wish to become good." Ashtem stared down, "But you are good." Jade Eye shook her head, "No, not good enough. I need to become good enough." Ashtem looked down, Jade Eye was quickly outpacing all the Equipment and the program didn't have the budget to continue. But he had the one option. The Requiem Project. "You might be interested in obtaining a new bey." he finally said. Jade Eye shook her head, "Falcon is the most precious thing I have. I won't give it up." Ashtem shook his head. "I'm thinking of a New Falcon. We will use the metal and plastic from old Falcon, keep the design as similar as possible but make a few upgrades. Will you do it?" Jade Eye looked down at her bey before nodding, "All Right."

Jade Eye looked around as scientists and Bey-Trainers plugged monitors and things to monitor her heartbeat and brainwaves and what not. She was given a breathing tube to make sure she had oxygen while inside the gel. She closed her eyes and tried to relax as it beeped around her. She fell asleep or something because when she opened her eyes she was in a weird place, completely black and white. She walked through the door, and marched across the desert. Whatever it took she would give it. She needed to make Falcon proud. She stared at him, the kid she had tried so hard to surpass but barely even knew. Green hair, yellow lightning bolt in the center those awful jagged teeth. The glasses, the too short shirt. Her right hand burned as she glared at him. He grinned at her delighted, Jade Eye's eyes shrank into slits. Her white aura wrapped around her. It reached out and spread over the purple and green demon. Jade Eye stared as she realized it was not aura but fire. Actual white-hot flames melted demon who had possessed her. As she watched it melt all she could think of was where this kid was. Had she been able to beat him if she stayed in Spain? Had she surpassed him ages ago and never realized? No time to talk, she walked into the next 'room'. It was a huge nest. As she looked around it, she heard a screech. The next second, she was eye to eye with a giant eye bigger than her head. "Falcon!" Jade Eye stared, "Why don't you talk to me anymore?" The white and black bird backed away, revealing its full glory. Patterned with blue and purple, yellow and green, red and orange. It was beautiful. "You were not powerful yet. Not worthy of me yet." came its reply. "I'll get stronger! I do anything to be worthy!" Jade Eye said. "Then choose!" Falcon roared. Jade Eye found herself crouched behind a rock. She felt lighter, happier. It was night time and candles and scary decorations were everywhere. _L__ast year's Halloween party._ Jade Eye thought. She looked down at her feet, a bucket of slush and ice cubes was there. She peeked over the edge, the school's candid photographer was getting Kajuri to pose for a picture. His fur-lined parka was something he routinely carried around but it was extraordinarily hot in it. He still wore it because it reminded him of home. Jade Eye grinned. She couldn't help herself. Seconds before the photographer clicked, she dumped the contents onto Kajuri's head. As she laughed until she hiccuped at Kajuri's incredulous look, she came back to the white and black aura field. "What will it be? Friends or Power? Choose now!" Falcon screeched. Jade Eye shrank back, "You're not the real falcon." she managed. Falcon Requiem laughed, "Of course I am!" Jade Eye stared at him, glaring. "You don't look, act or sound like Falcon. Hell, you aren't even saying stuff Falcon would say!"

Out side the aura field, one of the scientists approached Ashtem, "Sir, the subject's heart rate is increasing. Brain activity has spiked." Ashtem waved his hand, "The project requires the subject to relive memories. It is perfectly normal." the scientist was quick to interject. "Sir, this is not present in the hippocampus. The amygdala is active." Ashtem growled, "Translation?" the scientist gave a concerned look, "The subject's not responding to old memories. She's responding to fear, the brain is panicking and not accepting the new Falcon." Ashtem frowned, "How much of the new bey is complete?" A Bey-Trainer looked up, "The Forge Disc is complete. Nothing else." Another scientist added to the crisis. "Sir! Something's happening to the gel!" Ashtem swung around, "What?" the scientist adjusted his glasses, "Sir, its reacting to the subjects skin. It appears that her aura has taken a physical form!" Ashtem pinched the bridge of his nose, "And what form would that be?" he snapped. The scientist gulped, "Unfortunately, fire, sir." Within seconds, the place was evacuated before the gel built up too much pressure and the canister exploded, which would allow the fire to spread. Jade Eye fell out of the canister and the fire died out around her. Miraculously, she was unharmed. She stood up groggily, her eyes itched, so she closed them. When she opened them back up, she nearly freaked. She was surrounded by multi-colored aura, avatars of all the different beys she had seen. She stared as the avatars closed in on her. She turned around to find Falcon. It looked a lot like its Requiem counterpart. Except there was no black pigment, no multi-coloured helmet. "Stand behind me." It commanded, as Jade Eye obliged. Falcon screeched and clapped its wings. All the avatars instantaneously vanished. Jade Eye turned to Falcon, "What just happened?" Falcon sat in front of her. "The project failed, all that happened was that your aura has been solidified. Now, you can see the world like beys see it. Judging by its aura." Jade Eye smiled, "So I can talk to all beys now? That's awesome!" Falcon gave an amused smile, "You might want to control your enthusiasm. Unless you control your fighting spirit you might burn everything around you." Jade Eye nodded, "Now, how do I get out of this place?" Falcon sighed, "Breathe in, relax. Visualize the real world. Your vision will return to how it always was."

Jade Eye emptied her locker, changing into her old clothes and smashing Jade Eye mask. She stared at the white fabric in her hands then picked up the black spray paint and made a demonic smile with it. She walked back into the lab, looking for the real Falcon. She grinned when she found it in a velvet display case. "I think you should look at what's in that drawer. Something's calling me there." The bey whispered. Jade Eye walked over and opened it to reveal a black Forge Disk with purple, orange and yellow streaks. "Should I keep it?" she asked. "Perhaps. It has power. Not real power, but just enough to remind us what kind of person you are." Jade Eye nodded, "Accepting this project was the worst mistake of my life. I need to make sure nobody else gets caught in this trap." as she stepped outside. The moon was full, the night not close to chilly. Everyone was occupied, perfect time to escape. She walked towards the nearest village. On the way, she noticed a white shadow with wounds. She stared at it, "Ghost." she finally said.

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**Thank you! Might be a while till the next chapter, I actually did a much longer chapter than usual.**


	2. Beigoma Academy! Flash Falcon!

**Author's Note: For anyone who noticed Silas, which was basically everyone, Silas is not Jade Eye's rival. Not by a long shot. She doesn't even know his name! She has a kind of grudge against him because of something he did that is a major spoiler. That doesn't mean that their 'rivalry' is supposed to parallel Ghasem Madal and Silas or Lui and Shu. She uses her disappointment and hurt as a way to be motivated. Just a thought I needed to introduce in case you got the wrong idea. They'll have some sort of fight once the Evolution part of this story begins but that's some time away. Plus, I use the names from the English dub because I've only seen Turbo is Japanese.**

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_Six Months Later:_

Jade Eye stared at Beigoma Academy, her new school. She wasn't Jade Eye anymore, ever since she left the organization she had used her real name; Felicity Comas. She had long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a small braid with a feather sticking out. She had a green streak in her hair and bright green eyes and a fanged mouth. She wore her white hoodie, which was accented black and she had painted a demonic smile on the back. She wore her old pants and boots and a black and white glove on her right hand. Ghost, her pet falcon, who was white with red markings sat on her shoulder. As she walked inside, she shifted her shoulder until Ghost flew off and sat on a flagpole instead. "Stay outside, they might not allow you inside." she warned the bird-of-prey before going inside. She was only gone for five minutes when loud laughter reached her ears, _from the entrance._ She ran to find out what it was about. Two kids were laughing at Ghost. "An endangered corpse falcon! It looks so tame!" one of them squealed. The other looked at it greedily, "You think it will let me pluck out some feathers? They must be worth a bundle!" Felicity walked up to the pair, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." she warned. The kids shrugged, "There is a million-dollar bird in front of us! We should get a feather!" the greedy kid snatched a feather from Ghosts tail and gently pulled. Ghost's reaction was complete overload. She flapped around, talons flailing, beak biting down on anything it touched. By the time the mayhem stopped, both kids were bitten, scratched and traumatized. The Principal came running at once when the kids were helped to the nurse's office. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. Felicity stared at the boys but they were in a catatonic state and just gestured wildly at Felicity. She held her hands up when he glared at her, "They tried to pluck the feathers of an endangered falcon!" she protested, "I tried to warn them but when the bird panicked, they were in the line of fire." The principal rolled his eyes, " Remind me why you brought a million dollar bird to school in the first place? " Felicity blushed, "They wouldn't let me leave it at home. I thought it I didn't bring it inside less people will panic, but that would mean I can't keep it out of trouble." The principal sighed, "Fine, fine. But if there is one more incident that bird is out!" Felicity grinned and let Ghost climb on to her shoulder. "Now get to class! You're late!" he snapped. Felicity wandered around the hallways, memorizing the passageways until she found room 6B. She knocked on the door and then looked inside, "Is this Room 6B?" The teacher nodded, "This is the new student, Felicity Comas, please welcome her." Felicity subconsciously switched over to AuraVision. It allowed her to see both bey auras and reality side by side. Reality was dull, monochromatic black and white. The auras were differently colored. She immediately caught the cobalt blue aura flooding the first row and a blinding crimson aura somewhere towards the back. The two were so strong she nearly missed the yellow aura beside the blue and the green near a window. She noted the smoky black aura near the back at one side and the violet aura simmering away. This was most definitely not a waste of time.

Once she had walked out of the class at the end of the day, Falcon and Felicity came up with a plan. "The violet dragon was not happy with you, try not to interact with him first." Falcon advised, "And the Grim Reaper is probably not co-operative anyways." Felicity said. "I tried to talk to his bey beforehand, but that thing was unnecessarily rude." Falcon quickly summed it up, "That leaves the two flashlights, the yellow and the jade." Felicity's eyes narrowed, "I'll save him for last. I bet the stronger ones are more vulnerable to the Snakes. We just need a battle to make sure if that will happen." Falcon nodded and looked down at the ground while in AuraVision, searching for any traces for the crimson aura. She walked up to the roof, following the spots of red and realized there were blue and yellow lines as well. As she followed it, she could hear a voice, "2 hours! I can barely train for a few minutes! This means I gotta practice!" She followed the screams until she reached a stadium on the roof. A white-haired boy with red eyes was preparing to leave. A blond kid with brown eyes and a giant fan and a short blue haired boy with brown eyes. She walked up to the trio, "Hey! You guys are strong bladers, aren't you?" Rantaro immediately swung around, "Aren't you that new girl? Why do you ask?" Felicity grinned as she held up a white bey, with blue, red and green accents. "This is my partner, Flash Falcon! I want a battle!" Valt stared, "You're a blader?" Felicity rolled her eyes, "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't be a blader." Valt look panicked, "That's not what I meant! Just, are you good?" Felicity smiled, her fang showing, "Good enough. Now, who wants to battle me?" Rantaro stepped up, "Come on! I'm itching for a battle! Me and Roktavor won't lose again so easily." The two exchanged beys. Rantaro stared at the bey, _It has two layers, it must be a Dual Layer system, that means it can rotate. Two wings leave it open to attacks but if there is an alternating pattern of upper and lower wings then it has better defense. This must be a balance type._ Rantaro thought. He looked up to see Felicity with her eyes closed, tossing Roktavor in to the air and catching it. "What are you doing? You're meant to be studying the bey, not playing catch!" he yelled immediately, Felicity shrugged, "There's more than one way to study a bey." As the two readied their beys and Toko acted referee, Shu hung back. He was about to go home but he had to see this, Felicity might ask him for a battle next, so he could use all the information he could get. While the two were studying the other's bey he turned to look at the falcon she had brought with her. It had that intelligent spark in its eyes as it edged towards him. He smiled as he waved Spryzen around and the bird's eyes followed it. He turned towards the stadium as the countdown started. Rantaro let the Roktavor rip with great power, an almost perfect launch. He didn't realized what happened after that. He swore he had only blinked, but Roktavor was burst in the center of the stadium as Falcon spun around it. "W-what just happened?" Valt asked, Nika looked down at her tablet which showed in slow-motion how Falcon zapped quickly from Felicity's launcher to cut off Roktavor before it landed. "In the last second, a feathered blade stuck out and increased agility. Beys can burst with a slight pressure on a precise place but it takes accuracy and experience to pull it off." Nika explained. Rantaro seemed to take things differently, "How does any respectable blader lose before they land?!" he whined. "You actually lost before you even launched." Felicity offered, and Rantaro groaned, "Why do I just have to lose to the two most arrogant bladers back to back?" "You actually lost when you assumed Falcon is a balance type when everything pointed it to being an Attack type. That and mistaking a God layer system for a Dual Layer system." Rantaro huffed, "Cut me some slack! I don't know what you're talking about!" then he did a double take, "Wait, what are you doing with Roktavor?" Felicity twisted the bey around, "I noticed that your bey is supposed to act like a fan and it has several holes on each layer. If you align the holes you might get more out of that move in which you push wind up and force your bey to stick to the center." Rantaro rolled his eyes, "In case you haven't noticed I don't speak Bey-Trainer! I need English!" Shu sighed, "She's saying that your Roktavor Zone will work much better now." Rantaro stared at his bey, "Really?! Thanks!" Shu nodded, "Hey, Felicity! Battle me!" he said as she held Spryzen up. Felicity looked down at her watch, "I should really be heading back now." She paused, her eyes burning. She caught a red and yellow beast with yellow hair, eyes and armor. She shook herself back into the real world and smiled back at Shu, "You're on!"

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**Author's Note: And cut! First of yes, Felicity Comas is Jade Eye's real name and real fans of the english dub would know who this is a reference to. Those who don't know, it will be revealed later. Also, most of the next few chapters will be put in two portions. The main portion where the story will progress and a Felicity Flashback, where a part of Felicity's backstory will be revealed. That means Boa will not enter the main story till Evolution. So sorry, everyone who had there hopes up, but I need to establish a connection between the two first.**


	3. Spryzen's Warning! Kill Kraken!

Shu and Felicity exchanged beys. Once Felicity touched Spryzen she closed her eyes and entered the aura field. She stared up at the Spryzen Avatar. "What do you want from me?" she asked bluntly. Spryzen glared, "You are a dangerous person. A danger to yourself and the people around you." Felicity scowled, "And your point is?" she asked, "I've already made sure I have nobody close to me, there's less chance someone gets hurt." Spryzen rolled his eyes, "That is what's dangerous. You can leash the darkness inside you because you know what the problem is. You need to feel happy to lower the burden. Not pride, not accomplishment, not relief. Happiness. Or else you will lose control of the darkness which you have curbed for so long." Felicity sighed, "Is that all?" she said defiantly, Spryzen nodded. His words had reached her on some level, she might contact him soon. She turned back to the real world and handed Shu his bey. Their bond was really strong, she gave him that. She bent down, readying herself for an Aerial Strike. The countdown started and the two let it rip. Falcon zapped up and swooped back down to the stadium. Spryzen had launched close to the stadium, not even airborne for a few milliseconds. Felicity scowled as she focussed. "Falcon!" She yelled, "Aura Launch!" The two beys headed towards the center, flaring up with their fighting spirit. Felicity's eyes glittered with fire as the two collided. Spryzen pushed harder and harder, both Shu and him in perfect sync. Finally, Falcon soared through the stadium and out. Felicity stared at where it had landed and for a moment Shu could have sworn she was about to burst into tears. Instead, Felicity smiled, "That was awesome!" she said grinning, "No one's ever defeated my Aura Launch before!" She picked up Falcon and polished it. Valt bounded up to Shu, "Dude, that was awesome! She's really strong! I can't believe you pulled it off!" he fanboyed before turning around with Valtryek in his hand, "Now its my turn to- Wait! Where'd she go?" he looked wildly around, Shu shrugged and walked away. He was halfway downstairs when he heard Valt scream, "She was supposed to battle me!" He went outside the school and was setting out to his apartment when he spotted the corpse falcon that Felicity had with her. Its eyes glittered with hunger. Shu gave a gasp of realization or whatever that long drawn-out "Oh." is called. He reached into his bag and pulled out his lunchbox, which had a small piece of baloney that had fallen out his sandwich during lunch. He waved it in front of the bird, "You want this? Here!" he tossed it into the air and it was deftly caught in the bird's mouth. He smiled, then something struck him, "Where's Felicity? She didn't leave you here right?" The bird just stared blankly at him, thoughtfully munching on the piece of baloney. He sighed, "Well, I better return you. Come on." he didn't know why he said that, perhaps just impulse, but to his amazement, the bird followed him.

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Felicity climbed up the tallest tree she could find. She had to keep her mind off of it. She needed to be so busy she didn't pay any attention to the ache inside her. As she settled up to the highest branch she could find to catch her breath, she felt her hands instinctively pull out the feather in her hair. It had a metal stalk instead of the ordinary ones and it was razor sharp. She rolled back her right sleeve. There were prominent scars on her forearm. She stared down before digging the quill into her veins. She drew a simple snake like letter, S. As she stared into the blood that dripped through the cut, she was pulled back into the memories she both treasured and hated. Kajuri and her sneaking onto the dairy lorry to save time as they walked to her house. She and Boa bouncing a can on his feet and hands. _"Come on, Kajuri! This skill is useful!" Felicity pointed out. Kajuri scoffed, "How is standing on your hands gonna help you get stronger?!" he asked. Boa contemplated for a few seconds before saying, "It'll strengthen your arm muscles and increase your balance." Kajuri groaned, "Why do I even argue with you guys? You find reasons to do the craziest things!" Felicity grinned, "Come on! Just put your hands down and we will hold your feet up." Kajuri groaned but still managed to do what the two said. Boa continued as he slowly weakened his grip on Kajuri, "Now, we will let you slowly go, then you will balance perfectly while we go get one tiny thing done." Kajuri shifted uncomfortably, "And what if I fall?__" he asked. Felicity smiled, "Ghost is keeping an eye on you." He looked sideways to see the white blood-spattered falcon. "N-nice, falcon." he stammered, "Good, G-Ghostie!" The bird screeched and Kajuri fell backwards, face to face with Felicity and Boa, sneaking away his parka. Long story short, he still didn't take off his parka, even when the two insisted they were getting it dry cleaned. _By this time she had reached O She remembered Boa's face that day, set to be the most serious blader in the organization. Kajuri was happy to some extent, he had been accepted as Azure Eye, an equal to Jade. She wondered what they were doing. She traced out a R. Probably sleeping, she thought. How deep had she allowed them to go into her mess? She bled another one. Had she redeemed herself? No, obviously not. Boa didn't even understand what was going on. He would never allow her to cut her wrists, but she still felt like she deserved the pain. She had destroyed her friends' prospects of being successful bladers by chaining them to the Snake pit, the organization which she had tried so hard to escape. She carved out a Y and nearly instantly red aura surrounded her, "Spryzen," she said pleasantly, "What do you want?" Spryzen shrugged, "Please keep your depressing thoughts to yourself, you have spread a most awful ruckus between the beys." Felicity nodded sullenly and focussed on containing her thoughts as the demon dissipated. The next thing that struck her was a shout, "Felicity!" it was her name but Kajuri's voice, she remembered when he chased her after she lost to the green/ yellow lightning haired kid. "Felicity!" Her name again, this time Boa's voice. Days before he joined the Snake pit. "Felicity!" Another voice, it was new, unfamiliar but she recognized it as Shu Kurenai's voice. Then a jolt of pain ran up her right arm and she jolted up. This didn't happen slowly, all the shouts and memories even the pain, rushed at her at nearly the same time. She jumped, and fell, tumbling down in front of Shu. He looked down in concern at her. He had spotted her from the road and figured he'd return the falcon but he must have startled her. He bent down and shook her awake, "Hey, you okay?" he asked, his red eyes concerned, "That fall was pretty bad." he commented as Felicity shook herself awake. "It was nothing, I'm hard-headed." she said grinning. She rubbed the back of her head and gingerly touched the bruise, that was welling up, "Ow! That does hurt!" she winced. Shu eyes grew wide, "Your arm." he said, gesturing to her sleeve which, being loose, had rolled back. The still leaking wounds had started staining the hoodie's sleeves red. Felicity quickly covered it. "It's nothing, probably a few splinters." Shu shook his head, "I don't think a skewer can do that much. You need to get this medicated quickly." Felicity tried to cover the stain with her hand but it was impossible. "It'll be fine." She mumbled, Shu turned around, "I've got bandages in my apartment, wait here and I'll get them." Felicity watched him walk away and was about to head home, before she realized she really could use some bandages before heading out. So she waited, and Shu came back after five minutes. "Here." he said. Handing her a roll of bandages and some disinfectant. Felicity quickly grabbed it. She dealt her pain as payback for her misery, but neither was vanishing so she wanted to make at least one of them go. She didn't really remember Shu was there, watching as she rolled her sleeve back, as she wiped the blood away and dis-infected the wounds, Shu grabbed her hand, "Let go." Felicity said quietly. Shu stared at the fresh wound, "'Sorry.'" he said, "What are you so sorry about? Why are you trying to die?" Felicity snatched her hand back, "I'm not trying to die." she admitted bluntly, "I'm trying to say sorry." She wrapped the bandage around her arm and tossed the remnants of the bandage to Shu, "Thank you, for the bandages but leave me alone!" She spun around and walked away. Shu watched her walk away, then sighed and went home.

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Felicity Flashback: Felicity isn't talking about this memory to anyone, we are just seeing this part of her backstory now.

Location: Spain, Felicity's Age: 10

Deep in the forest of Spain, a workshop lined with reinforced steel and a small house beside it stood. Some space away, a chicken coop stood and the cockerels screamed to death as the sun rose. In the loft of the house, a young girl with brown hair wildly strewn about is sleeping. A bed is put on the other side of the loft, along with all her belongings decorated to make it obvious that it was the little girl's room but the girl herself is cuddled in the hay, sleeping by the window. Her brilliant green eyes snapped open when they heard the cockerel crow. She tumbled out, grabbing a towel, toothbrush, hairbrush, everything and climbed out of the window and up through a ladder. She sent the bucket down by a pulley system, then jumped from the roof of the house. She landed in the ice cold water of the watering hole behind their house. She swum a few laps before going to the shore to wash her hair and face. Half an hour later, she walked inside, still towelling her hair dry. She made breakfast and shovelled it into her mouth before going out to collect all the eggs. When she came back and put them inside the fridge, she saw the list of errands her grandpa had stuck on the fridge. She took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, "GRANDPA RAUL! I'M GOING TO TOWN TO DO THE ERRANDS!" she heard a soft mumbling from her grandpa's room and replied, "I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES!" she picked up all the receipts and boxes and notes that came with going to do errands and walked out of the forest. It took half an hour to get out of the forest at a leisurely pace. She walked over to the pet shop as soon as she came out. The man smiled as he caught sight of her, "Six pounds, Felicity?" he asked as she nodded excitedly, putting money on the counter as the guy poured six pounds of bird seed into a sack. She put the sack into her wagon and started going to the addresses listed on the boxes of beys that had been given to Raul Comas for improvement. They weren't all beys, some where just drivers or layers or disks. There were even some launchers. At the end, she had finished deliveries and trotted along the aisles of the mini mart. The adults were all used to her and rushed to get her higher items before she started climbing the rack. Everything done and paid for, she walked over to a familiar group surrounding a bey Stadium. She pushed forward to see the match-up. A boy with red and orange hair, she recognized him. Free Del a Hoya. He had been battling the bladers here for nearly a week. She watched as the opponent's bey was thrown out of the stadium, "That was fun." Free said. Felicity walked over to the opponent, "Hey, can I have a go?" she asked the kid, hopefully. She had never battled anyone before, though she tested the beys her Grandpa made. The defeated kid made a face, "Beyblade is a boys' game. No snivelling girls allowed. Just go home and play with your dollies." then pushed her aside. She felt someone help her up. She turned to see a teal haired boy who was wearing what appeared to be a parka but was obviously much lighter. He smiled at her, "You want to battle?" he asked, Felicity looked down, "I've never actually beybladed before." she admitted, "My Grandpa's the best BeyTrainer in Spain! He lets me test out the beys but I've never had my own." The kid smiled, "You can have mine if you want." he showed Felicity his bey, "Kill Kraken!" Felicity dug around her wagon, until she unearthed a launcher. She grinned as she took the bey, "My name's Felicity, what's yours?" The kid smiled, "Kajuri." The two found an opponent pretty quick. This one kid who had pushed her. As she inspected his bey, she could feel a plan come together. The two readied their launch and Felicity pulled the launcher rapidly, the bey flew out and quickly circled the defense type, Kraken sped up and down the stadium and the boy sneered. "Don't you know anything? You'll run out of stamina before you win!" Felicity just smiled as she saw the opposing bey run out of stamina and collapse. He stared at it in shock. He had failed to notice that the sliding increased her speed and ability to keep moving. She grinned as she picked up Kraken and handed it back to Kajuri, "Come on! Lets go to my house!" she dragged him to a dairy van and lifted her wagon inside. Kajuri jumped in and looked around, "Isn't the driver gonna be mad when he finds us?" he asked worriedly, Felicity laughed, "Probably. Stop being such a spoilsport!"

* * *

**Author's Note: So the first part is really depressing. It might slightly divert from what everyone thinks about Felicity. Think about her like this, she distracts herself from bad memories by hard work and bey battles, but when she's alone and has time to delve into horrors she just wants nothing more than to redeem herself, to feel the same pain she put her only two friends through. Also, yes, Felicity and Kajuri are such good friends because Felicity was encouraged to become a blader by him. Free is right now ten and not the strongest blader in the world.**


	4. Shu's Confrontation! Ghostly Memories!

Author's Note: Okay. I updated this, now everything takes place exactly three years than in canon. So, Valt and company are thirteen right now, but the first season is happening like normal. This is because Felicity can't have become a star international blader at age 8. So four years have passed when she comes to Beigoma. Free will be fifteen when they crossed paths.

* * *

Shu could not stop thinking about Felicity after their confrontation. Of all the bladers who would even think to cut their wrists, Felicity did not seem a likely candidate. She seemed so happy whenever she came to the roof to battle them. But he couldn't pay attention to the battles at all. All he could think of was that bleeding apology on Felicity's arm. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't tell his friends because it wasn't something he had any right to tell. But that meant that he couldn't find Felicity anywhere. She just disappeared after a few battles. Valt had tried to get her into the Bey club but she had said no. He kept on thinking about their battle. He knew she was gonna say no, but her eyes had flashed red for a second, he was sure of it, then she stiffened and accepted. What was with that? He didn't know what this was about, but he just felt that he needed to talk to her, to stop her from shedding her blood day after day. So he stopped training for a day, even though he needed it badly. He stood outside the school, waiting for Felicity to come out. She did eventually, so Shu followed her out. She turned a left and went down a street he hadn't gone down before. He followed her as she unlocked an old store's door and slipped inside. Shu sighed and followed her up to the second story. The first thing he noticed was that there was a disk on a table in front of him. There were pieces of beys and half-farmed launchers scattered around. He looked at the tiled floor, trying to pick out drops of blood. He stopped outside of a room and knocked on a door. "Come in." Felicity's muffled voice came out. Shu walked in, "Um, are you okay? I just wanted to check on you, you're not hurting yourself anymore, are you?" he asked, actually worried. Felicity guiltily rubbed a scarlet cloth over her arm, "Yeah, I-I'm fine." Shu stared awkwardly at the floor, "I know you're lying." he said, "Wanna talk about it?" Felicity looked up, "Talk about what?" he stared at her, "Why you think you deserve this pain at all." he answered quietly. Felicity sighed, she had learnt to be with-drawn but all that bottling up and Shu's casual stubbornness that she stop dealing with the problem like this made her want to blurt it out. "Half a year ago," she began, "I was at a training ground. The bladers there were extremely rigid. It wasn't who I was, but it was the best training dojo around so I changed. I had two friends, Boa and Kajuri. They were trying to beat me. They figured if I got so strong by that dojo, they should give it a shot too. It turned out that I had changed more than I thought. I was completely changed. I had been used as a puppet, to increase the status of the dojo. I didn't realize how terribly far I had gone until I took a step too far." Felicity lifted her hand, thinking about battles, about fighting with all her heart. Shu stared at her, "What are you doing?" he asked cautiously. Felicity stared unblinkingly and her arm surrounded by white fire. Shu edged back, shocked and scared. Felicity smiled sadly, "Yeah, that's my aura. It takes a physical form, fire. It was what happened when I left the dojo. That, and I can talk to beys." Shu sat up, "Really? Kinda hard to believe." Felicity growled, "I'll prove it!" she immediately declared, "Battle me!" Shu shrugged and held his launcher out. The two walked over to a bey stadium. The two launched perfectly, Felicity grinned, fire wrapping around her. Finally, she could battle with her complete strength. "Falcon!" she shouted, and Falcon spun around, aiming for Spryzen, "Aura Launch!" Felicity shouted. As the two beys contacted, Shu felt himself blown backwards. A bright flash of white forced him to close his eyes. When he opened them again, he stared at what he saw. He was surrounded by red, and he faced Felicity, who was surrounded by white. A huge falcon stood behind her, its wings and tail patterned with red, blue and green. He turned around and found himself face to face with Spryzen, "What?!" he stammered. Felicity grinned, "This is the true power of Aura Launch." Felicity explained, "It nullifies any value a bey's design might have. It only takes into account the bond between the bey and the blader. That's why I was so shocked when you beat me. Falcon and I have a close bond. It can't be beaten by any ordinary blader!" Shu stared at his partner as he faded back into the real world, "What was that place?" he asked finally. Felicity smiled, "I call it an aura field. It's where beys and bladers communicate if they can." Shu nodded, "So, you'll stop, right? Cutting your wrists?" Felicity looked down, "First give me one reason why you care what I do." Shu sighed, "Look. You're a strong blader, I want to see how you you'll do next year in the National Tournament. But that won't happen if you're dead." Felicity stared at him, reading the earnest concern in his eyes. "Why next year?" she finally asked. "What?" Shu asked, confused. "What makes you think that I won't be in this year's national tournament?" she elaborated. Shu stared at her, "But all the District Tournaments have started." Felicity stared up in the air before finally saying, "You got the WBBA app on your phone?" Shu nodded, "Of course. Here." He typed in his password, opened the app and handed it to Felicity. She bent over it, quickly typing her name in the search blader bar. The results it came up with were very short. On the very top was a picture of Felicity smiling confidently. It said 'Felicity Comas' she clicked on it and Shu scrolled down her list of acheivements. "You were part of the Raging Bulls?" he asked, shocked, "That's incredible! No wonder you're strong." Felicity blushed modestly, "I don't like to brag. But it will get me an invite to the Regionals." Shu grinned, "See you in the Nationals." Felicity grinned, "You're so on!"

* * *

Felicity Flashback:

Raul Comas took off his aviator goggles, "It's done! Say hello to your new bey!" Felicity stared at it with an excited smile, "It's amazing!" Raul scratched the back of his head, "Your ideas were very specific and they will possibly work, but are you sure this is what you want?" Felicity nodded as she put her bey together, "Yeah! Exactly like I said." Kajuri stared at the new bey. "It's like no bey I've ever seen. Whatcha gonna call it?" Felicity stared at the Feathered blade between the two peices of the God system Layer. "Falcon, Flight Falcon." She decided. Felicity dragged him out of the place and to the stadium outside. Kajuri grinned, 3... 2... 1... Let it rip! The two shouted. Falcon dived from above, slightly mistiming Kajuri's launch and just barely missing Kraken. Kajuri sharply inhaled, _That was close, she nearly got me._ he thought. Falcon circled again before nearing Kraken towards the center. She gritted her teeth as the two beys zapped forward. Kraken had better defense, he might be able to take it. Falcon_ jumped_ on top of Kraken and the two friends stared as Kraken slowly unbalanced and fell. "What just happened?" The two asked instantly. Raul walked up, "I was curious about the choice of performance tip because of this. A Needlepoint tip allows for increased balance, plus a tiny spring to absorb attacks. But perfectly angled and it will jump onto the opposing bey." Felicity's eye's grew wide, "Awesome!" she paused as she heard the screech of some bird. She quickly ran outside and started looking out through her binoculars, "Kajuri! Look at this!" Kajuri ran over to what she was looking at. "It looks like an albino peregrine falcon that has been wounded." was his verdict. Felicity shook her head, "That's a corpse falcon! It's supposed to look like that. I need an egg from its nest." Kajuri shrugged, "I'll help you, as long as I don't end up injured."

"Why do you think I won't get ripped apart by a bird if I'm wearing a sausage hat?" Kajuri asked her worriedly. Felicity shrugged, "Just keep it distracted till I get an egg. Its not too hard.". Half an hour later. Kajuri is covered with scars and his teal hair is sticking up in odd directions and has hay in it. Felicity is unscathed and is cooing over the corpse falcon egg. Which looked like some sort of giant pearl. Felicity keeps it in a box near a heating pad along with hay and feathers. "If it hatches." she cooed dreamily over it, "I'll call it Ghost."


	5. Friends Old and New! Daigo and Boa!

Author's note: Sorry, it's been a long time for my standard. First of all, Felicity didn't tell Shu the whole truth because she was worried about warning him about something that might nevar come to pass. This is the beta-read version of this chapter. Beta-read by IdolGirlGold. Thanks a lot!

Daigo didn't get why everyone was so excited by the new girl. She was taller than most kids, and some people were saying she battled with Shu Kurenai and just barely lost. But he was extremely wary of her. He remembered how the first time the girl walked into the class, she had stared directly at the noticeable bladers in the room. Not just the famous Shu Kurenai, but that dark horse, Valt Aoi, that weird kid with the fan, Rantaro. She even stared directly at him. Her gaze was what unsettled him the most was that steady, level gaze. He swore it changed color every time it shifted from blader to blader. But he didn't think too much into it. She was obviously not a strong blader, otherwise, she would be in the tournament. She probably didn't even have a bey. After the first time he saw her, he pretty much ignored the kid. But they met each other twice after that.

The first time was when he was walking to the hospital, paying a visit to Ryota and he was attacked by something white, red and flapping. He growled as he desperately tried to push the thing off and he heard a gasp and shouts of "Ghost! Down!" the flapping quickly retreated. He picked himself up and looked up at the Comas girl, her bird was staring at him intently, "Control your bird!" he snapped and walked away, subconsciously noting the bandage around her arm.

The second time was when she had stood beside him, trying to get a good look at the battles. The first battle was Wakiya's against some blader he had never heard about. It was weird, he realized, she never came to bey-battles. There were a lot of things weird about her. He watched Wakiya win with a burst finish, and smiled slightly. Of course, he got this far. Then he instantly backed away several paces as he smelled smoke and saw a flickering white light. The hot sensation directly next to him warned him of fire. He stared at the girl next to him, who was still looking intently at the stadium, completely oblivious to the fact she was on fire.

"Hey! Are you dead?" he finally snapped.

The girl turned to him, "What do you want? I'm kinda busy."

Daigo stared at her. "Do you realize that you are on fire?"

She stared at him in a confused manner before blinking and the flames instantly died down.

Daigo stared at her. She was really weird. Daigo shrugged it off as a trick of the light, but that didn't explain the temperature and the smell. The others didn't notice it either, but Shu kinda looked like he did.

The next day he walked up to Valt and the others, the ones who had started a bey club for the school, and went up to Valt and challenged him to a battle. He fell for it like the gullible fool he was. It didn't even take much to get him to show off that Rush Launch. He reached down and grabbed Valtryek. "Oops, I made a mess. Wanna clean that up?" he taunted as he burst Valtryek. As he left he caught sight of the Comas kid again, her intense gaze spoke volumes. This was gonna be too easy.

The next day Felicity went to watch the battle between Valt and Daigo with the others. "Hey, where's the feather in your hair?" Rantaro asked.

Felicity fingered the place the feather had been. "It must have fallen out." She replied.

Valt was finally having his battle with Daigo. Everyone's attention immediately switched there. It didn't take much time to get Valt riled up. Rantaro gritted his teeth and shouted support. Felicity on the other hand, completely zoned out until the battle started. She never understood the point of smack-talk in the first place. Nobody ever did say stuff that stung. But she knew that Valt cared about Valtryek a lot, and would easily get riled up if Daigo's treatment to Valtryek was mentioned.

She paused, his fighting spirit was darkening, which wasn't a good sign. Valt drew his power from the joy of bey battles, anger would bring him down.

But she needn't have worried. She smiled slowly as the battles passed, his stance different, more relaxed. There was a lot more to Valt that met the eye. She grinned when Valt finally won against Doomsizor and Daigo with a burst finish. She looked forward to battling him. She watched Daigo leave but before that, her eyes flashed black and Doomsizor's avatar appeared.

"So you are a friend," It growled. "I had my reservations about you."

Felicity leaned forward. "What is with your blader?" She asked, "Why is he so mean?"

Doomsizor shrugged. "He has a lot on his mind. He wants his brother to be proud of him." Doomsizor growled. "He's stuck in a hospital, so give it a rest kid."

Felicity sighed. "No need to be so horrible about it."

"Says the girl who was literally raining down negativity a few days ago." Doomsizor retorted.

Felicity shrugged. "For a bey you make a brilliant point." Even with all her sarcastic quips, Felicity felt a tiny bit of sorrow for the kid. She knew what it was like to have someone close to you hurt... So of course when she heard Ken making a plan to visit Daigo's brother Ryota she offered to come along.

Daigo stared at the scene before him. He didn't believe it. First that Valt kid followed him everywhere, begging for him to be on his Bey Club. Now, those three were playing with Ryota! He had suspected something when that bird that had attacked him last time was just staring at him, then he had seen the Comas girl. Just sitting in the corner, smiling slightly at Ryota. Ryota grinned back at him. Well, if Ryota trusted her, she couldn't be all bad.

Felicity Flashback:

Location: Mexico, Felicity Age: 10

"WBBA flight 706 has landed. Please check your belongings before you exit the plane." the voice on the PA announced. Kajuri looked over at Felicity. She was dressed in her uniform; a red flannel frock with a wide hat. She had tilted the hat forward to stop people from recognizing her in this stupid attire. She grabbed her satchel and walked out at once. Kajuri had left his parka at home because of the heat and was wearing a light green shirt. Once out they met a thirteen-year-old girl who had volunteered to be part of the Blader Exchange program. "Hi there!" she greeted them cheerfully. "My name is Kristina Kuroda, but please call me Kris. I will be your supervisor for this program."

Felicity looked up. "You're part of BC Sol, right?" Kris nodded before taking the four bladers (In total there were four bladers from Mexico, Felicity, and Kajuri and two unnamed ones.) to a training facility in the very center of Mérida, the capital of Yucatan. "You will stay here for the entire length of the program. You have been given dorm rooms and keycards, your training regimes will be pasted on the notification boards inside your dorms."

Felicity ran to her dorm to change out of the horrendously uncomfortable uniform and into a sleeveless blue shirt with a white falcon symbol painted on. "Free at last!" she sighed as she walked up to Kajuri.

Kajuri raised his eyebrow. "Haven't you ever worn a dress before?" he asked.

Felicity shook her head. "How are you supposed to climb trees like that?" she asked confused. Kajuri just shook his head.

Just then, a blader walked up. Felicity didn't know him so she assumed he was one of the regulars of the facility. He grinned as he held up a red bey. Felicity squinted at the bey to realize that it was a Kerbeus Spread Accel. "I heard you're strong." he said, pointing to Kajuri, "Wanna battle?"

Kajuri grinned, "You're so on!"

The two went to a nearby stadium and took their launching positions, Felicity going to the middle to referee. "3! 2! 1! Let it rip!"

Kraken took the center and Kajuri smirked. "Kill Zone!" he commanded and Kraken's jagged Forge Disc started rotating independently.

The other blader rolled his eyes. "Like that's gonna do anything!" Kerbeus sped down the slope. "Kerbeus! Excel Strike!" Kerbeus' speed increased and when the two beys collided, Kraken burst!

Kajuri stared as the bey's parts flew over towards the blader. He sniggered before stepping on his bey, rubbing it in his toe. Felicity ran forward, rage flaring up. "Hey! You can't do that! Apologize!"

The blader stared at her disdainfully. "Sending a girl to fight your battles. Pathetic." Felicity looked over to Kajuri, who silently picked up his bey's pieces and walked away.

Sometime later the blader took out his bey to battle with another Spanish newbie when he realized that a red feather had been tucked into his bey. The exchange saw the feather and turned white. The blader looked over to the exchange. "What's with you?"

The exchange gulped. "That feather is called the Falcon's Curse back in Mexico. Whenever someone upsets Felicity intentionally, she leaves a feather somewhere where the victim will see it. Then all hell breaks loose. White means it's not that major. Red means that you should move to the other end of the country for the week. The first white feather she used was on this kid who hurt her hand, really bad. His bey was replaced by a sugar replica, that worked exactly like the original except it rot over time and got infested by ants. The red one was used when someone made fun of her bird, that kid ended up covered in glue then dumped into a pit of feathers."

The blader gulped. "Oh no."

A light brown haired kid pulled the launcher to his bey and watched it spin around a stadium. A kid wrapped in a towel sipped from a cup of hot cocoa as he looked at the other guy training. When the light-brown-haired kid looked up, his green eyes glittered with fury. "No kidding? He seriously did that?" He asked the wet kid, who nodded. "Well, he's getting a bit too self-confident of he thinks he can mess with my friends without me getting payback. We should pay him back." He pocketed his bey and walked off, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

Felicity snuck around the training area, looking for the bey trainers lab. It was a crucial part of her plan. Felicity was a prankster in the loosest sense of the term. She got payback from people who annoyed her, and upsetting her friend was a sure-fire way to annoy her. She grinned as she opened the door to a bey trainer lab that was reserved for non-employees. She opened it and slowly looked around. It was incredibly well-furnished. Felicity smirked, "Payback, here I come."

Seven hours later, Felicity snuck out of the lab, wheeling a giant layer towards the unknown blader's room. She slowly and painstakingly put together a giant version of Kraken in his room. Then, once all was set, she put a magnetic rotating disk on the floor and stuck the bey on it. Then she put a tiny speaker sideways on the room. The blader walked in, semi-convinced that Felicity wasn't gonna go through with her threat. Then he looked inside and freaked out. Kajuri's voice rang out from behind all that. "3! 2! 1! Let it rip!" And Felicity, stifling a laugh, made the MRD rotate. The blader screamed even louder than before, his face looking like a thunderstorm.

"Felicity!" Felicity finally let herself chuckle before turning around to see the blader in question breathing down her neck. She laughed sheepishly before darting outside, trying desperately to get away. Even though Felicity was lithe and brilliant at shaking off tails, she had only been in Mérida for a day. Her pursuer knew every nook and cranny of this place so it was quite difficult. She finally ducked under a drainage pipe and lost the blader. She hid behind a low wall, waiting for him to turn away from the wall and ran down a street. She heard a crash from where she had just come out of and turned around to make sure the pursuer wasn't back. As she backed away slowly, she collided with someone. In one swift move, she turned around and grabbed the person by the scruff of their neck. She faced a light-brown haired boy with green eyes and what appeared to be a poncho several sizes too large.

He fell to his knees when she released him, "Please, don't throw me in the river!" He begged, "You guys know I can't swim!"

Felicity stared at him curiously. "First, I didn't know you can't swim. Second, why would I throw you in the river?"

The kid rubbed his hands as he stood up. "So you're not part of the Bey Conquerors?"

Felicity shook her head. "Who're the Bey Conquerors?" The boy looked behind him. "Tell you later." Then he looked up at her. "Say, you're tall. Mind giving me a boost?"

Felicity pricked up her ears, listening for danger. "Mind helping me get that guy off my tail?"

The kid looked to the side and nodded. Felicity then boosted the kid over the wall and jumped over. The new kid led her through streets and over roofs until he finally settled down under a bridge. There is a stadium in the middle and some crates just lying about. Graffiti covered the walls and spray paint lined the walls. "So, what is this place?" Felicity asked as she sat down on one of the crates.

"Nothing much, the Bey Conquerors don't know about this place so its a good place to train." The kid answered.

"Speaking of that, who're the Bey Conquerors?" Felicity asked.

The green-eyed kid shrugged. "No one specific. Some of them are very well known. They aren't exactly honorable. They think that just because they won fair and square once means that they can watch the blader opposing them make a fool out of themselves with stupid tricks. They take all the good training spots and use them as bait for new victims. Some of the stronger ones end up with their beys stolen when they lose. That guy chasing you, he was a BC."

Felicity nodded. "So, who are you?"

The kid walked over to a mini-fridge and pulled out some drinks. He threw one to Felicity and cracked his open. "Me? I'm Boa Alcazaba."

Felicity snorted into her drink. "Nice name."

Boa growled. "It's not funny!"

Felicity forced herself to stop laughing. "So why Boa?" she asked.

Boa looked down. "My parents were herpetologists. They study snakes. Who are you?"

Felicity leaned back. "Felicity Comas. I'm from Spain for a blader transfer project. So why were you being chased, anyway?" Boa gestured to a pile of spray paint. "They dumped my buddy into a garbage dumpster. The big ones."

Felicity winced. "Now that's just cold. So what did you do?"

Boa shrugged as he threw up his bey then caught it. "Took his bey while he slept and tied to a bull's horns."

Felicity smiled. "I like you kid. You a blader?"

He grinned as he held up his bey. "Check it! Balkesh and I are gonna dominate this year's tournament!"

Felicity chuckled. "No way that'll happen if I can make sure of it!" She grinned as she held up Flight Falcon.

Boa smirked, standing on one side of the stadium. "You're too sure of yourself. Balkesh is a lot more intimidating in battle than in real life!"

Felicity grinned and quickly stood on the other side of the stadium.

"3! 2! 1! Let it rip!"

The two immediately yelled. Falcon dashed out and lightly hit the edge of Balkesh before landing. Felicity ground her teeth. Missed again! But that touch had thrown Balkesh off balance and caused it to wobble. Falcon quickly started a barrage attack, destroying Balkesh after a few minutes. Felicity grinned as she fixed Balkesh. "You're strong!"

Boa stared down. "Not strong enough."

Felicity thought for a few moments then picked up her bag and started digging around in it. "Maybe this will help." She took out a small piece.

Boa picked it up. "A Performance Tip?" he asked. "What does this do?"

Felicity shook her head. "It's not any Performance Tip! It's highly experimental, it can change its height and increases your Stamina."

Boa looked at it closely. "Where'd ya get it?"

Felicity blushed sheepishly. "My grandfather is the best BeyTrainer in the world! He and his apprentice Taiga Akabane designed it. I swiped a prototype before I left."

Boa fitted it on to Balkesh then launched it. "Woah!" he gasped. "That's wicked fast! What's it called?"

Felicity grinned. "That's an Extend tip. I probably shouldn't have given it to you, so do me a favor and don't show it off too much until the tip is released to the public. Got it?"

Boa grinned. "Sure!"

Author's Note: So the Turbo bey hasn't been designed by Taiga yet but the Xtend tip has. Next time the flashback will be kept short and any question you want answered will be answered.


	6. Get Ready, Guys! Fliss Enters the Scene!

Felicity was absent-mindedly stroking Ghost as she balanced herself on a narrow pole attached to the top of the shade above the bey stadium in the park. If anyone had bothered to look closely enough at her, they would realize her eyes were fiery red. She was deep in conversation with Spryzen. "Your aura seems to be recovering. That's good," He said. "You really dodged a bullet there a few days ago."

Felicity stared at him. "Really? Who had the gun?"

Spryzen scowled. "Some kid called Daigo. He saw your aura's fire, good thing he didn't think too deep into it."

Felicity nodded. "I know that guy. He's in Valt's Beyblade club. He respects other people's privacy."

He sighed. "Just be more careful, you can't be seen as a walking blowtorch."

Felicity sighed. "You know avatars lose their omniscient position when you're constantly bickering with them?" She asked.

Spryzen growled even louder and then walked off. "Hey! Where ya goin'?" Felicity asked as she followed behind, or at least tried to.

Spryzen shook his head. "I've got a battle in fifteen minutes. I gotta go, don't intend on being late talking to a sarcastic sentient firework."

Felicity narrowed her eyes. "Hey!" Too late, Spryzen was out of range. She snapped out of the aura field and slid down the roof. Ghost glided down after her. She ran after Shu on his way to the District tournament.

The battle had almost started by the time she got there, not having as much stamina as Shu. In the crowd, she immediately spotted Valt, Rantaro, Daigo, and Ken at the front. Everyone except Valt seemed to be laughing about something.

Shu's battle started, and she focused on it until she heard Rantaro say, "Balance types have no advantages."

"It mostly has to do with the bey combinations." She swiftly interjected. "Spryzen is a good match against Kerbeus. Kyoji made a big mistake with his bey combination, using a heavy bey with barely any attack capability."

Rantaro sighed. "We've gone over this. I don't speak Bey trainer! It's like you deliberately try to make me look stupid!"

Besu was the first one to react, "Not that you have to try very hard!"

Honcho growled at him. "Hey!"

Daigo rolled his eyes, "She's saying that Kerbeus K2 Gravity Revolve was a bad choice against a matchup with Spryzen." He explained.

Rantaro looked back at the scan of the bey. "Really?"

Felicity nodded, "This combination can't be found normally for a good reason. Kerbeus just isn't suited for attack. The tip is used for Stamina types, not for attack."

Rantaro nodded. "Finally, something I understand."

They watched as Spryzen spun to the center. As Kerbeus made contact, the others were slightly panicking, but Felicity saw through his strategy. He had this in the bag. She grinned as the Kerbeus burst. Sweet Revenge, seeing a Kerbeus bey burst.

Next up was Hoji Konda. His bey, Horusood won with a burst finish. His bond was impressive, what with everyone else she had seen.

Then came the violet dragon from the first day of school. She had barely ever seen him in action but he was good, that was for sure. She watched him do the ordinary strategy for a defense type and win with two survivor finishes. Later, she walked up to him, thinking that maybe a battle would be fun. He seemed to be a likely victim.

He was talking to that Hoji kid and were staring as Valt and Rantaro fought amongst themselves. "Hey, you're Wakiya Murasaki, right?" She asked as she walked up to him.

Wakiya gave her a disdainful look, "I'm not signing autographs, so beat it!" He snapped.

Felicity stared at him, "Why would I want your autograph?" She asked, bemused.

Wakiya rolled his eyes, "Because of that bey battle just now! Girls always want my autograph after that."

Felicity leaned back, "So I was looking for an opponent who would battle me but I obviously came to the wrong place." She walked away, before stopping and turning around, "Look me up. What you find might come as a surprise. If you change your mind, I'll be at the Beyblade club."

A few days later, the Beyblade club had gathered in the gym to get some practice in. The others had decided to help Valt increase his focus by heckling him while he tried to pull off a Rush Launch. Felicity rolled her eyes, this was gonna take a while.

"Hey, Daigo. After tomorrow's match's training is over, wanna battle?" She asked.

Daigo stared at her with narrowed eyes then nodded, "Sure."

Valt suddenly yelled, "Hey, Daigo! We need a referee!" Daigo hurried back to the match.

Felicity looked down at Falcon. "That the last one?" Falcon musical voice floated into her ear.

"Yeah. Think so." She turned around, then realized that something powerful and purple was near the door. She turned to see Wakiya Murasaki looking at Valt. She immediately recognized the prickly spark and walked off to the only other bey stadium in the school, the one on the roof, before tensions rose.

She found Shu gently stroking the bird. She grinned. "Good Ghost. Get over here." Ghost immediately flew off the wire fence and landed on Felicity's arm.

Shu smiled and waved. "Hey, Felicity, did you want a battle?"

Felicity stiffened, "N-No, I'm training somewhere else."

Shu watched her walk off and shrugged then walked downstairs. Maybe Valt would want to battle.

When he walked into the gym, he heard bickering. Valt was trying to pull off a Rush Launch while the others were distracting him. This time they were going to have a proper match. He watched Valt set himself up for a Rush Launch and saw a basketball hit him as he launched. He adjusted his form, but no one seemed to notice except Shu.

Valt groaned. "Aw man! I messed it up again!"

Rantaro stared at it. "It's got a totally different trajectory!"

Daigo was confused, "You set yourself up like you were gonna do a Rush Launch. I don't understand what's going on."

Shu walked up. "Hey, Shu did you see that? I mangled the launch but its going wicked fast!" Valt said.

Rantaro immediately started a fight with Ken over what caused it. Shu sighed, couldn't those two ever be serious?

It was Daigo who cracked it. "It was the spin speed." He realized. All the attention shifted to him. Everyone was so focussed on the new move they didn't notice that the speed of the bey was definitely faster.

Toko grinned, "Doesn't the spin speed have something to do with how fast you pull the launcher?" He asked.

Shu smiled warmly, "Correct. The faster you pull the launcher, the faster your bey moves."

Valt grinned, "Well, I have been working out lately."

Keru looked around, "So you think it was the special training?"

Toko grinned at Nika, "Well, it was special!"

Honcho laughed, "You ask can thank me later for my patent pending technique."

Keru jumped in again, "Hate to break it to you but your only contribution wasn't all that important."

Besu added salt to Honcho's wound, "You actually failed miserably."

As Honcho stuttered, Nika grinned at Toko, "So that means it was mom's special training that did it!"

Valt hugged Valtryek, "We came up with a new move today and it'll go down in history!" He cheered.

Then a voice came out, "Looks like you have five members for your bey club. Well done, I knew you could do it!"

Shu turned around, "Principal Shinoda."

The principal continued, "As I promised, the Beigoma academy Bey Club will now be-"

Valt interrupted, pushing Shu away, "Shu's not actually part of the club!"

Honcho yelled, "Zip it!"

And Keru whispered to him, "He doesn't need to know that Shu isn't technically part of the club."

Daigo chuckled to himself, "Valt's so honest."

Principal Shinoda bent down and touched the stadium. "A beystadium never lies. I respect the effort you all are putting in to make this dream a reality. So, the Beigoma academy beyclub will be a temporary club until you can confirm you have a fifth member."

The four cheered and high-fived. Valt punched the air with Valtryek, "I swear I'll do anything to make the beyclub legit!"

Wakiya was training with the weaker bladers in his group. They were already exhausted and begging for a break. He sighed as he picked up Wyvron. "You're lucky I have better things to do." He said haughtily as the two dumped cold water over their heads. He opened his laptop.

Hoji looked over his shoulder. "What're you looking for?" He asked.

Wakiya didn't take his eyes off the screen, "The girl seems to be really confident in her skills. I should at least look her up." He replied.

Hoji stared at Wakiya. Was he feeling okay? Sure, Felicity felt like she was radiating power but Wakiya wasn't the type to care.

Wakiya clicked on Felicity's name and his eyes bugged out. "She used to be the tenth most powerful blader in the world! The only reason her ranking slipped down was that she stopped showing up to tournaments suits months ago."

Hoji gasped, "She's also a level 3 bey trainer!"

Wakiya looked at Hoji, "How is that impressive?"

Hoji whispered, "Bey trainers can study and practice for years and they probably won't even get to level 5. An 11-year-old at Level 3 says a lot about her skills and knowledge."

Wakiya waved his hand, "Never mind that, she's been holding onto her position in the Ultimo Seis since she was ten! That's skill!"

"She holds the record of bursting opponents in 0 seconds! How does that even happen?" Hoji said. Wakiya grinned, "Says here that she knows a lot of good bladers. That is something worth mentioning." Wakiya looked up, a determined gleam in his eye, "There's no way I'm losing to her!"

Felicity Flashback:

**Location: Spain and Mexico. FA: 10, 14.**

Boa, Felicity and Kajuri were at Mérida Airport. The other two bladers from the exchange were waiting for the flight to come. The three friends, however, were saying goodbye one more time.

"This is my method for making candy duplicates of beys," Felicity said as she gave Boa a sheet of paper.

Boa grinned and gave her a snakeskin, "A little gift from me to you."

Kajuri looked at him suspiciously, "Where's mine?" He demanded. Then froze as he felt something heavy and scaly fall on his back. He screamed loud enough to wake the dead, then turned around to see a Spiny Pit Viper snakeskin with a few high powered propellers poking out of it. "Hey! Not funny, Boa!" He whined.

Felicity snickered, "You should've seen your face!" She chokes out between laughs. Felicity chuckled, "Hey, Boa! Never pick on my friends! Karma will reign supreme!"

Boa rolled his eyes, "Oh really? How?"

Felicity grinned evilly then held up Balkesh. Boa yelped and checked his pockets, "How did ya get that?"

Felicity grinned, "Are you sure it's with me?" She turned out in her hands and held it up again, this time she was holding Falcon. She switched it from hand to hand, revealing it to be sometimes the performance tip, and at other times the Forge Disk. An entry alert for her flight made her return Balkesh to Boa. She grinned at him, then pulled out a pen and scribbled her number on the sugar bey recipe.

Kajuri grinned as he wrote his down too. "Come to El Astro someday. It's incredible!"

Boa grinned, "Sure thing!"

The two fist-bumped then Felicity punched his shoulder, "You will not believe the training grounds!" The two grinned as the ran to board their plane.

Felicity stretched and yawned as she got off the plane. She sleepily walked over to her Grandpa's RV and settled down into a deep sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. Raul stared at his granddaughter and then laughed. Same old Felicity. So, of course, that night she was wide awake. She hummed to herself for a few seconds, then checked Mexico's current time. She texted Boa, "Hey! How's it going?"

Boa grinned as he received the text, "Just some boring poison milking. Nothing new here." He replied before sending a picture of a black mamba being held in place by several leather harnesses.

Felicity giggled, "It ain't a scratch on my Monday."

Boa settled in his bean bag chair and started typing Felicity's name, misspells it, deletes it, retypes it then accidentally misspells it again. He groaned and instead replied, "Kajuri isn't in this conversation. Otherwise, you would have been dethroned, Fliss."

Felicity rolled her eyes, "Fliss? Really? That's the best ya got?"

Boa expected the reply, "Yeah. It's short and sweet."

Felicity huffed, "Who are ya calling sweet?! Yer lucky I'm not in Mérida, or you would become a snake salad by the time I'm done with you! I'm so sour, I make bitter gourd seem like candy!"

Boa grinned, "Well, it's either that or Flissy." He reasoned.

There was silence for some time then Felicity, with a roll of her eyes said, "Fliss it is then."

**One week after Requiem Escape:**

Felicity trudged to town. Ever since she had returned, her grandfather had offered to do her bey deliveries for her and their groceries were delivered to their doorstep, so she really didn't have to leave. That was how she liked it. But birdseed supplies were finished and so was Ghost's claw sharpener.

As she walked to the store, she could hear the whispers. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were dark. Some girl she recognized, Shasa, she thought, followed her and grabbed her arm, "Come on, Fliss! Let's battle!" She said.

Felicity turned around her eyes shadowed. "Don't call me Fliss." She growled and walked away, leaving the girl stunned.

She didn't stay that way for long. Shasa ran after Felicity, "But you didn't mind if Boa and Kajuri called you that."

Felicity pulled on the hood of her hoodie. "Exactly. You wouldn't understand." She said and stalked away. She stared at Ghost, who perched on her shoulder. She watched as one red feather slowly dropped from the bird. She stared at it and murmured, "One last curse."

Ignoring Falcon's protests, she inserted a sharp needle into the feather's stalk. She then around it into her hair. She called Raul, "Grandpa, can I go on another training journey?" She asked as soon as he picked up. She was gonna fix her mistake, drop by drop and country by country.

**Present day:**

Shu watched Felicity as she hung upside down. He had been training, kind of stung by her reaction over the battle. So she had caught up with him to apologize, "I was a bit distracted. I'm really sorry, I was kinda busy."

Shu shot a pointed look towards her right sleeve, "As long as it's not that, I really don't care all that much, Felicity."

There was silence between the two until Felicity finally broke the ice, "Fliss."

Shu, who had already launched twice, looked up, "What?"

Felicity smiled at him before pulling herself around so she was facing Shu properly, "Call me Fliss." She explained, "My old friends used to call me that."

Shu grinned back at her. Felicity used to mention her old friends a lot but it was always said in a sad way. This was the first time she had actually smiling at a memory. "Sure thing, Fliss." He replied, smiling.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, yes I have decided to put some fluff in this at the end. Please don't hate me. It won't interrupt the serious tone of the story. Also this chapter is a reminder of Felicity's goal in Japan. To battle all strongly bonded bladers, see how they react and try to warn them about going to the Snakepit. Also, also, Felicity will go back to her friends in the Snakepit, to try to get them out. But she won't do this until she certain that the darkness won't swallow her up again (The question was given by the-ext-you-know-who. I figured everyone would want to know the answer.) It might happen in the Evolution portion of the fic. Footnote: Felicity's name is direct irony for everyone who doesn't know. Her name means happiness and she has been, for six months, incapable of feeling happiness.**


	7. History Repeats itself! Valtryek's Plea!

Wakiya was jogging with Hoji and the other two Bladers. He was mostly doing this for training, but he knew that Felicity girl went jogging a lot. He needed a battle with her. Hoji walked away, but he barely even registered it.

His efforts were rewarded when he spotted a familiar brunette running. He sped up, trying to catch up.

Felicity barely glanced at him before speeding up.

Wakiya cursed, he was already running as fast as he could, how was she so fast? "Hey. I demand a battle!" He finally yelled.

He expected her to stop, but she didn't, she just turned around and continued running. Backward. "Fine. Where's the beystadium?" Felicity asked.

He grinned, "Follow me."

Felicity looked around the huge training facility. It was huge and expensive, not to mention useless. Wakiya seemed proud of it, "It's probably better than whatever setup you have to suffer through in the park. If you're half as good as they say you are, maybe I'll let you hang around."

Felicity shrugged and took her launch form; close to the stadium but pointed upwards. "3! 2! 1! Let it... rip!"

Falcon charged upwards and hit Wyvron's Performance Tip. The heavy bey was thrown backward and landed on the wall of the stadium, upside down. Falcon deployed its feathered blade and flew into the center.

Wakiya froze, "What's the ruling?" He stammered out.

The kid acting as ref shrugged, "No idea, it could be a Survivor Finish or a Ring Out Finish. Either way, one point goes to Felicity."

Wakiya growled, "You got lucky. This time I'll be ready for you!"

Felicity looked indifferent. She crouched down, launcher tilted upwards and sideways. When they launched, Wyvron didn't even make contact until he landed. He set up position in the center of the stadium and grinned, he had this in the bag! Felicity grinned too, inwardly. Falcon dashed toward the center and Wakiya mocked her. "Give it up! Nothing will break my Shield Launch!"

Felicity smirked back, "I wouldn't be so sure!" Falcon was half an inch away from Wyvron when it somersaulted over the remaining distance and landed on Wyvron's layer.

"Hey! Get off!" He whined as Falcon continued to spin around the layer, completely messing up his balance. Wyvron clattered onto the stadium floor.

As Wakiya continued to stare at the stadium, Felicity picked up Falcon then muttered, "Pretty good for a kid who always relies on machines to do the hard work for him," and walked away.

Hoji finally arrived at the facility. Wakiya barely even turned. "Hoji. I've been thinking. Don't worry about winning your match against Valt." He really needed to win against someone strong in front of the world.

Felicity was training on top of the shade above the stadium. She was standing on her left hand, then did a flip before landing back on her hand. At least she was supposed to, but the dark blue aura cloud hanging over her distracted her. "Hey! Cheer up!" She finally said.

There was a yell and a sound of someone falling, "W-Who are you?"

She giggled to herself before dropping down to the ground, "Hey there. So what's the problem?"

Hoji stared at her, before shaking his head, "Problem? What problem?"

Felicity shrugged her shoulders, "Well, you know, maybe you should talk it over with Wakiya, a little communication goes a long way."

Hoji started sweating a little, "What are you talking about?"

Felicity stuck out her right arm, "You know exactly what I mean."

Hoji looked at her as the falcon that followed her everywhere perched onto her arm and she walked away.

He dealt with the problem exactly like she said, even though he was convinced she was a psychic. Still, she was a good person to sit next to while betting on matches with her analytical skills and all, so they remained on good terms.

* * *

Felicity stared at the scene before her eyes. When she had agreed to be part of the Beigoma Academy beyclub, she knew things would be ridiculous, but this was just embarrassing. The four of them, Daigo, Ken, Rantaro and her were listening to Valt go on and on about beating Wakiya. "Pobre chico, se ha ido y ha volteado la tapa." She muttered to herself.

Rantaro immediately fired up, "Say that to my face, why don't ya?"

Felicity gave him a bored look, "It's not an insult. I just said that Valt has flipped his lid."

Rantaro glanced back at Valt, who was still going on about how he was gonna beat Wakiya. "Well, you're right about that."

Felicity sighed and walked away, "There really is no point in sticking around trying to battle Valt properly like this. Daigo, I want that battle after school."

As she walked away, she saw Wakiya. He seemed really smug, it wasn't really a mystery why. She was really worried about Valt but she really couldn't think why, since Valt was always doing stupid stuff.

As she went to class, her irises pulsed blue. She sighed and switched over to the aura field. "Hey, Valtryek. You wanted to talk?" She asked, looking up at the legendary soldier seated upon the horse.

"Remind Valt about me. That's all I need." And instantly she was back in class.

She blinked, weird message. But Valtryek needed her help, except she just didn't know how to make it happen. So she spent the whole day thinking.

As she was having lunch, Shu walked over to her. "You okay, Fliss? You seem pretty focused."

Felicity took another bite of her apple. "Just thinking."

Shu settled beside her, "About what?"

Felicity sighed, "Valt's been acting weird and Valtryek wants me to remind Valt about him."

Shu blinked, "What a coincidence. Rantaro just asked me to fix Valt."

Felicity stared, "Honcho did?"

Shu smiled, "I know, just don't tell anyone else. I knew you could keep a secret. Fliss."

Felicity tilted her head, "So you'll remind Valt about Valtryek? Thanks!"

Shu grinned, "Anytime."

Felicity walked away, smiling brightly.

It seemed that Shu did the trick, because the next time the club met, Valt had turned into his normal hyperactive self. Apparently, his reason was that Shu had promised to battle him. He did come, as promised and Felicity leaned back and watched them take their launching positions. She saw the countdown. Nothing else. Her eyes burned and she was, quite unwillingly, into the aura field.

She stared around her, she had never talked to beys mid-battle before. Valtryek and Spryzen swung their weapons at each other. Spryzen yelled out to her, "Hurry! I need your help!"

Felicity blinked before creating a thin barrier between the two avatars. They were still striking each other but the did less damage and used up less stamina, in conclusion; they were going at each other slower than the real counterparts. "So what's up? What was so urgent?"

Spryzen hit Valtryek again before replying, "Shu's hurt. His shoulder is injured and he's supposed to be taking it easy but he's not!"

Fliss looked at him with a tilted gaze. "Again. Why should I care? I respect a friend's privacy."

Spryzen swung once more, "This is important! I need your help! Otherwise, he'll never Beyblade again!"

Fliss blinked, shocked, "I'll try my best. No promises."

The aura barrier broke apart. She found herself blinking at the stadium, where Valtryek had burst and Spryzen had won. As she saw Shu leave, she glanced at the others. Rantaro and Ken seemed pretty bummed out that they didn't get to battle with Shu but Daigo was blinking rapidly at her. She walked off silently, so the others didn't notice her leave. She caught up with Shu, "Hey! You know you need to go easy on that shoulder?"

Shu growled, "Not in the mood, Fliss."

Fliss sighed, "Shu, you do know that I have made a few mistakes myself? I just don't want you to repeat them!."

Shu sighed and turned his head to face her. "Okay. What?" Fliss pulled off her only glove, black and white, and showed him her hand. Shu's breath caught in his throat. Her right palm was decorated by welts and scars that were obviously the pattern of Falcon's layer. "How did that..." He began.

Felicity tugged her glove back on, "Some kid ages ago. I grabbed Falcon out of instinct but it wasn't a good idea."

Shu nodded, "It doesn't hurt now, does it?"

Fliss smiled sadly, "Kinda does. I just need to make sure I don't put too much pressure on it."

Shu grinned, "Thanks, for the confession. You never were an open book." Fliss grinned and walked away, her hands in her pockets.

* * *

**Felicity Flashback:**

**Location: Spain FA: 10.5**

Felicity grinned as she punched the air. "Alright!"

Kajuri grinned behind her, "Awesome, Felicity!" Another opponent had been thrown out of the stadium. Felicity had risen through the ranks of the Beyblade Spanish tournament unnaturally quickly. Unofficial tournaments were held every week, that was where the two were right now. Up till now, very few bladers had won against her. Her next opponent was a tall kid with jagged teeth and green hair with a yellow lightning bolt running through it. The referee called him Silas. She never really remembered the names of her opponents for more than a few days.

The countdown began, 3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! The beys zipped around the edge with intense speed. "Go! Slash Satomb!" Silas yelled.

Falcon spun fiercely and collided with Satomb. Satomb delivered a vicious counterattack. Her precious Beyblade zapped out of the stadium, digging into the palm she had held out while shouting directions. She gasped and grabbed her hand. Kajuri only saw a few drops of red on the floor to understand what had happened.

Felicity ran off and the Silas scoffed, "One point lost and she runs away? What a weakling!"

The referee narrowed his eyes, "Give it a rest! She was hurt!"

Kajuri gulped and followed Felicity through the woods. As soon as he caught sight of her he yelled out, "Felicity! Wait up!"

Felicity didn't wait, she just sped up even more. Kajuri finally caught up to her at the edge of the lake, washing off her increasingly bloody hand. It was a lot worse then he had thought. "Hey! Are you okay?" He asked, cautiously.

Felicity wrapped her hand with some fabric. "Does it look like I am?" She muttered bitterly. "I will never forgive that kid. I swear I will train as hard as possible to win against him!" She said before walking out.

* * *

**Author's Note: For anyone who has been confused about Felicity's scar. I have been dropping little hints about it for sometime, read through the story again if you don't believe me. Also the Flashbacks don't occurin chronological order, just to clearvthe air. Shu and Fliss are also parallels of each other, except Fliss has gone through a lot more in a shorter time frame. By the way, just so you remember, Fliss is from Spain. So when she's talking in Spain she's speaking Spanish, its just translated into English. Except when she's talking to Kajuri, because he's obviously not from Spain, and other foreigners.**


	8. Daigo's Suspicions! Shakadera Special!

"Awesome!" Felicity smiled as Shu walked out from the BeyMall, "That was really close. How's your shoulder?"

Shu smiled back, "Fine, Xander fixed it up for one more launch."

Fliss sighed, "Well, that's a relief. So, what are you gonna do now?"

Shu glanced at her, "What do you mean?" Then they turned a corner and walked to the stadium near Shu's house (The one in the park, where Shu and Valt first battled.)

Fliss shrugged, "You know, now that you've won the finals and the Nationals aren't up for another month and a half, what do you plan to do?" She climbed up the nearby tree as she spoke.

Shu nodded in understanding, "Xander's grandad is brilliant at healing these kinds of injuries. I'm planning on heading there today." Then, he tried to copy Fliss and scale the tree, to no avail.

Fliss chuckled and held out a hand to help him up, "Sounds like a plan. When are you coming back?"

Shu carefully clutched her hand with his left to bring himself up to the branch she was sitting on, "I don't really know, as soon as I'm better."

Fliss grinned widely at that and Shu suddenly felt warm. He looked away nonchalantly. "Yeah, well. I've gotta go get packed." Then he helped himself down, avoiding Fliss completely.

Felicity sighed as she put her bag back. School was as dull as usual, she was dying to train. She wrapped her belt and beyblading gear around her waist. Then she got out of her ordinary shoes and put on running boots. She tucked a cold bottle from her freezer into her ordinary satchel and opened her door and started off at a swift jog.

By the time she passed the park, she was going in an all-out run. So obviously when Valt jumped in front of her she slammed straight into him.

"Hey! What was that for?" She asked as she brushed herself off.

Valt grinned like always, "Well, I asked you to stop but I don't think you heard me."

Felicity sighed, "So what did you want?"

Rantaro, who was there with Valt and the rest of the Bey Club, rubbed the back of his head, "Have you seen Shu? You two are always hanging out."

Felicity stared at him, "Don't you guys know? He went to the Shakadera martial arts training centre to find a way to help his shoulder heal."

Valt sighed, "Oh good. Wait, how did you know that?"

Felicity looked up. An odd spark of orange caught her eye in the tree. She switched to auraVision to check the anomaly out but was knocked back into reality when Valt waved his hand in front of her. "Oh, yeah, because I asked." She replied.

Valt seemed a bit confused by the reply but she didn't let it frazzle her. She walked up to the tree, "You might as well come down." She called up.

Rantaro looked confused, "What are you talking about?" Then he yelled out as Xander dropped upside down from the tree.

He grinned, "You got me! Gotta admit you're good. And you're right. I'm heading to the Shakadera material arts centre too if you want -"

He was cut off by Valt, "Great! I'll tell my mom!"

As Toko and Nika followed him Honcho grinned, "Guess I'm coming too. Just to balance out the sanity levels."

Xander laughed, "Nice. Everyone's welcome!" Rantaro, Daigo and Ken ran off to pack but Felicity just stood there. "Hey, aren't ya going?" He asked the brunette.

Felicity nodded, "Yeah, I am, it's just that I'm waiting for someone."

Xander looked around, "Who would that be?" He was cut off by a screech and a flash of white darted past and landed on her arm.

Xander laughed, "Cool bird! Is it yours?"

Felicity nodded and ran off wordlessly to her house to get ready.

Once there, she picked up her white satchel, the one she took on camping trips. She looked through it. Hoodies, check. Sunscreen, check. Birdseed, check. BeyTrainer kit, check. Hiking Boots and spare leather gauntlets, check. Ready to go.

Felicity sighed dully on the train, the others were squealing about how amazing the mountains would be but she was really bored. Honcho groaned, "Did ya really think they would let a wild animal onboard?"

Felicity sighed, "It was worth a shot." She pulled out her BeyTrainer case and sighed.

Her BeyTrainer case contained a series of molds for Layers and Disks, a collection of Layers, Disks, Tips and Frames, different types of launchers and her BeyTab. Her BeyTab was a smooth small tablet with amazing processing power and crazy huge memory. It was designed to automatically identify bey combinations and state their individual uses and overall effect. But that wasn't why she had taken it out. She clicked it open and it opened up to its unlock screen; an image of Kajuri, Boa, Grandpa Raul and her celebrating after she got her official BeyTrainer license.

She scanned her iris and went to the main screen. She flipped past the many utilities before tapping at the 'WBBA beyclub database'. She looked up that Xander guy's name. Turned out that he was the captain of the Sword Flames. She was gonna look further into it when Honcho looked over her shoulder, "What's that?"

"Just a BeyTab. Contains information about beys and stuff." Felicity replied indifferently.

Honcho looked at it curiously, "What kind of information?"

Felicity shot him an annoyed look, which he completely missed, "Information restricted to official licensed BeyTrainers." She said shortly.

"You're an official licensed BeyTrainer?" He said excitedly.

Felicity switched to the home screen again and clicked on her license utility. It popped open, showing her test results, full name and ranking. "Check it."

Honcho looked at the license, "Man, this is awesome!"

Felicity gritted her teeth, his loud voice really got on her nerves, especially considering their surroundings. Thankfully, Toko jumped in, "Guys, we're here!"

They stepped out on the station and Felicity sighed, breathing in the fresh mountain air. A screech rang through the air and Ghost dived down from high up onto her shoulder.

Honcho gaped at the bird-of-prey, "How'd it get here?"

Felicity deadpanned, "She's a bird. She can fly."

Xander laughed fit to burst, "She's got you there, buddy!" He led them over to a mountain, "Now, the training centre is just at the top of that mountain."

While everyone else's jaw dropped, Felicity cheered, "All right! Finally, something I'm used to!"

She carefully dashed up the slope, leaving everyone to stare at where she had been. Xander grinned and picked up Toko and Nika, "Then what're we waiting for?"

A few minutes later, Honcho was already complaining, "Are we there yet? Fresh air ruins my complexion."

Xander grinned back, "You're not tired, are you? This is nothing, right guys?"

Toko and Nika nodded, and Felicity paused to say, "¡Sí! Por cierto, cuidado con las trampas."

"Say what?" Valt replied, before falling into a pit.

While he groaned, Felicity shrugged, "Intenté advertirte."

"ENGLISH!" all the other beyclub members yelled.

Felicity nodded, "I said, be careful with the traps, and, I tried to warn you."

"Then next time warn me in English, why don't you?" He yelled as he helped himself up. Felicity did warn him, again and again and again but Valt had literally no idea what to look out for so he inadvertently ran into the traps anyway.

With many struggles, they finally made it to the centre. Felicity glanced around interestedly, there seemed to be a lot of people here. She paused to look at a blader fighting spirit coming from not far away. She neared the source and was about to enter it when Honcho ran past, "Hey! Valt found Shu!" He called out. Felicity grinned and walked over to where Honcho was. "I propose a new rule for the club. From now on, easy hikes only." He was saying to Shu, who had on an arm sling. Felicity winced a bit but it went unnoticed by everyone.

Daigo continued, "All in favor, say I."

Ken said I, but Felicity quickly interjected, "That was easy, you guys just need to get out more."

Honcho immediately flared up, "Well, excuse me for growing up in the 21st century!" He yelled at her. Felicity stared coolly back. Then she walked away. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?" He yelled at her.

Without answering, she hit the tree in front of her. Hard. A guy dressed in teal pants and jacket tumbled down.

As he rubbed his head, Valt asked, "Hey, Xander. Who's this guy?" Xander grinned,

"This is Yugo Nansui. Martial arts student. Tough guy, and a loyal member of the Sword Flames beyclub. But I think he was aiming for a more impressive entrance."

Yugo finally recomposed himself, "Yeah, I heard the runner-up for the tournament was coming and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. Gotta say you're kinda clumsy." The two started bickering straight away.

Felicity groaned silently, "¿Por qué estoy atrapado con los molestos?"

But Xander had interrupted their bickering, "It would be a shame for you to come all this way without having a battle! I've got a special setup. You want to see?"

Valt cheerily agreed, so he led them through the place to the hut that Felicity had seen earlier.

As they passed through, they got completely swamped by rookies from the club. Xander finally got them through the crowd to a back room. A beystadium stood there. Felicity smiled slightly, "It has spikes! Imagine the implications."

Xander laughed, "It's my own invention! I call it the Shakadera Special!"

Valt gushed over the stadium, "Come on! We've gotta battle, Xander!" Xander was about to accept when Yugo jumped in.

"You can't battle the captain just like that. You've gotta get through me first!" Valt readily agreed.

Yugo sat down and closed his eyes. Valt cocked his head. "What's going on?"

"Yugo's meditating," Shu answered from beside Felicity. "He's concentrating to give his best performance."

"Cool!" Valt sat down and tried to meditate himself. He failed miserably, but Yugo had gotten up anyway.

The two started their battle. 3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! Yegdrion circled the center and Valtryek went into a Rush Launch. Yegdrion easily dodged and knocked it into the spiky zone. Valtryek slowed to a stop.

Shu sighed and Felicity clutched the hem of her sleeve, "It was so close, but its good to go for one more round."

Valt was grinning wildly, "Thanks for showing me the ropes, Yugo!" The second battle started and this time Valtryek started with a Flash Launch before going for an Ultra Flash Launch. Yegdrion was knocked into the spikes, where he burst. "Awesome! Now I can battle Xander!" Valt cheered.

Felicity stepped up to the stadium, "Not until I have a battle with Yugo!" She announced holding up Falcon.

Everyone stared at her then Xander laughed, "This'll be good! Sure, why not?"

Yugo frowned but nodded, then handed her his bey to inspect. Felicity did the same. She looked carefully at Yugen Yegdrion. It was a stamina type, but it had a very unique feature of requiring more effort to burst even with her ordinary technique. She smiled grimly, it had to be done.

They handed their beys back and sat down to meditate. Once the battle was about to begin, she started twirling her launcher. Yugo stared suspiciously at the fast-moving launcher. Then she stopped and bent down to take her launch form.

3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! She pulled the launcher as hard as she could, Falcon zapped out and slammed entirely into Yegdrion with incredible speed.

The two Beys flew across the room towards Xander, who quickly stepped aside. He gulped as he looked down at the struggling clash as Falcon drove Yegdrion into the wall until the other bey burst. He stared down at it before laughing, "Tough girl. It's gone halfway through the wall!"

Keru gasped, "No wonder! I was wondering why she never battles!" Besu followed up with, "And here we were thinking she just entered to fill the five-member criteria."

Daigo blinked. He was not sure what just happened but he was certain her eyes were clouded with white while she concentrated and her feet were surrounded by a warm glow that had been moving upwards before it vanished.

He was reaching the limit of his indifference, he needed to know what was going on. Why was she always changing eye color and seemingly always surrounded by fire? Felicity wasn't the type to talk about things like that with just anybody, she was way too standoffish. Who would know this secret?

He thought back to all the times she had exhibited unusual skills. That time while watching Wakiya, that fire was most likely not an illusion. Then there was that time when Xander had been caught by her. Her eyes had glowed orange. Oh, and that one time when Shu battled Valt. He was convinced this wasn't an illusion, her left eye was blue and her right red and for a few minutes, her hands were coated in the dull white light he had spotted. So who was there who would know about this?

It hit him, Shu Kurenai. Valt's words came back to him, those two were always hanging out. He would know if she was bursting into flame. He was snapped out of his reverie when Valtryek went flying past him. "Xeno Xcalius, with a ring out finish!" The referee announced. Daigo looked up, he had missed the first round of Valt's battle! He'll have to look into Felicity later.

* * *

**Author's Note: No flashback this time. I know that Felicity is described to smile a lot but she doesn't smile that wide. Her old friends also, despite their wicked sense of humor are very serious.**


	9. Thunder Launch! Playing and Training!

Shu smiled as Fliss walked up to him, "That was brilliant! How did you do it?"

Fliss tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

Shu sighed, "That attack can't be pulled off with regular Falcon. You changed something. But what and when?"

Fliss smiled slightly, "Tell ya later, Valt's battle has already started!"

Shu switched his attention towards the battle. Too late, Xcalius had already ended the first match with a burst finish.

Daigo carefully watched the two take their stances. 3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! The beys took off at high speeds, Valtryek going for a Rush Launch and carefully avoiding Xcalius. While the others marveled at Valt's thought, Shu spoke up, "Xander wasn't planning to end it with one attack."

Fliss nodded, "Yeah, that horizontal launch of Xander's will keep him going for long. It's a common stance style for users of the long-winder. It'll improve stamina and keep you going, usually for a barrage attack."

Xcalius did just that, easily flanking the Rush Launch and knocking Valtryek into the spiky zone. Felicity gritted her teeth and Shu beside her muttered, "Hang in there, Valt!" Valt wasn't planning to lose so easily either.

Valtryek held up and continued moving across the stadium. "It held up!" Xander grinned.

"Valtryek hasn't burst but it lost a great deal of power," Fliss noted quietly.

Honcho groaned, "Seriously?! It's gonna end like this?"

Felicity groaned just loud enough for Shu to hear, "Don't you guys know? Xcalius is the ultimate attack type, it specializes in attack power. Stamina just isn't for it. It can only get so much out of that horizontal launch so the battle could go both ways."

Ken shook his head, Keru spoke up for him, "Well, it looks like Xcalius has enough left."

Daigo winced, "So he's planning on ending it with the next hit?"

Xcalius struck... And missed.

While everyone gasped, Shu and Fliss spoke up at the same time, "The speed change caused it to mistime!" Xcalius and Valtryek both slowed down even more.

"They're gonna stop!" Nika yelled out fearfully. She needn't have worried, it ended in a draw.

Fliss let out a sigh of relief, "He hung on!"

In the end, however, Xander won. The fact that he had to push himself to the limit was impressive, butt that intense battle also meant that Fliss was fighting next. She grinned as she stepped up to the stadium with a determined expression. "Come on! Let's do this!" She challenged.

Xander grinned, "Then what're we waiting for?"

The two took up their stances. Xander focused on where he was going to place Xcalius. Felicity had was incredibly skilled, her earlier battle was proof of that. He wasn't taking any chances though, so he needed to take the normal side. Fliss, however, set herself up for an Aerial Strike.

3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! The beys zipped forward, colliding head-on in mid-air. Felicity breathed in with a determined gleam in her eyes, "Come on, Falcon! We got this!" Falcon gleamed in return and Felicity's eyes were clouded with white fire.

Xander gritted his teeth, grinning wildly. This girl was powerful! He sure wasn't gonna lose this easy! The two beys pushed with all their might, still locked in the clash between the two bladers' launches. Suddenly the two were blown back. Xcalius burst as soon as it hit the stadium. Falcon, however, was knocked into the spiky zone and also burst on contact! The ref called it, "Simultaneous burst finish! No points!"

Shu stared, "Wow! That was incredible!" He murmured to himself.

Ken and the others were also shaken, "A draw on the first round?! That's amazing!" Valt cheered.

"Wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it." Honcho said, awestruck.

"How has she never battled any of us?" Keru asked in a subdued voice.

Xander laughed, "Good job, kid!" He smiled, before taking his launch stance, this time with the power side. Fliss twirled her launcher like a baton, readying herself for another powerful attack. This time, she won with a survivor finish when she hit Xcalius into the spiky zone and slowed him down enough to end it.

The battle after that got serious. Felicity used Aura Launch but got knocked out. The next five battles all ended in draws. She was getting fired up, her whole body heating up, her eyes glowing white, her hands and feet glowing ever so slightly. She was panting, sweat was dripping down her face and she was getting tired. One last shot, that was all she had to limit it to. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

The spirit of Falcon appeared behind her (In the aura field, not the real world.) it positioned itself at a mock bow, with one leg back. Then it straightened its wingtips. Felicity put her right foot back and bent her knee ever so slightly, her other leg was in a completely straight line and was tilted forwards. Her launcher was set at waist-height and her head tilted to the side to get a better look. Shu scanned her lean form, noticing that she had switched up her launch style. This was gonna be good.

Xander laughed abnormally loud, "Switching things up are we?" He laughed.

He was met with no reply, she was that focused. Xander turned his attention back to what launch he should go with.

3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! The beys landed on the stadium at the exact same time. Shu nodded, "She's holding nothing back. Didn't expect anything less of Fliss."

The beys zapped around the edges and Felicity's eyes darted around the stadium before going in for the attack. Xcalius and Falcon were in for collision, before Falcon hit the circular side of Xcalius, just missing the sword. Falcon bounced back and Shu gulped, "She's gonna hit the spikes!" But Fliss had taken that in mind already. Falcon sped up, hitting the spikes in such a way that they produced a clicking sound while propelling her forward. She spun faster and faster, circling around and hitting Xcalius where it had no sword. Shu blinked as the clicking sound increased, Xcalius was slowing down to a stop. It was just stopping when Falcon burst!

Shu blinked, "What just happened?!" He asked himself, "Fliss was winning!"

Xander and Felicity turned towards the ref. "Who won?"

The ref looked carefully at the stadium before calling Nika over, who had been filming the match. The two talked for a while before he pointed towards Felicity. "Flash Falcon with a Survivor Finish! Felicity with a score of two to one!" It took a few seconds for the effect to wash over everyone.

Valt ran over to hug her, but she quickly side-stepped him. Ken grinned at her and Keru laughed, "Well, what do you know? You're really tough!" And Besu piped up, "You're my new favourite hero!"

Honcho looked curious, "So, whatcha gonna call it?" He asked.

Felicity tilted her head, "Call what?"

Honcho shook his head, "Ya know, that new move, with the clicking sounds."

Felicity nodded before thinking into space for a few seconds, "Thunder Launch." She finally answered, "I'll call it Thunder Launch."

Suddenly a rumble rocked through the place. "What was that?!" Valt exclaimed in a panicked tone.

"A storm?" Honcho asked.

"An earthquake?" Daigo trembled.

Xander laughed unrepentantly, "Nah! Just my stomach! Let's eat!"

Fliss sighed, thank god, she was drained! She tucked in quickly, it really was a relief to recharge. She blanked out everything that was said mostly but she caught the gist. Valt wanted Xander to come to his mom's bread store, Honcho and Xander had an argument about nicknames and Shu told them that Honcho was a favourite to win the tournament and had lots of merits. She already knew this, having researched every blader she tested.

Oh, and Honcho challenged Xander to a battle.

She only snapped out of her silent state when Xander announced he was going on his field training run. It could be a good workout, so she decided to tag along even though she was planning to stay with Shu tho explain to him the mechanics of her new move. "Yeah! I'm coming too!" Valt yelled excitedly.

"Count me in!" Honcho said.

"Wait up!" Daigo called out as he followed the rest of the beyclub. He was gonna ask Shu about Felicity, but it could wait…

Xander led them to a cave. Inside there were pillars of rock sticking straight up. The floor itself was way down, just a painful slip away. "We're here now, what do we do?" Valt asked eagerly.

Felicity sighed as she unlaced her boots while Xander explained what they were meant to train for. Before he had the time to go on about what they were gonna do, Fliss had put her boots in her satchel and jumped on to a pillar. Carefully, she lifted one leg before bending forward and shifting slightly so she was standing on her hands, "Like this?" She asked Xander, ignoring the shocked faces of the others.

Xander rubbed the back of his head, "I suppose you could but I don't think the others can do that..." He trailed off.

Honcho immediately flared up, "Showoff!" He muttered bitterly to himself, before proceeding to give it a go himself.

Turns out the others weren't really the best at it. In fact, Daigo had been about to fall over had it not been for Felicity rushing over to help. Then they were supposed to climb through the stalactites of the cave. That was difficult, what with her injured hand. And then came the climbing. It wasn't that hard all by itself, she just was still struggling with the stalactite pressure. She was sweating much more than normal, but she could feel the power coursing through her, so she fought on. Once he reached the top Xander grinned at the other four as they struggled up then glanced at Felicity, who was looking down at Daigo worriedly. "Now we run!" He announced.

Valt groaned, "Running?!"

Fliss sighed as she tied her laces again, having put the boots back on while climbing the stairs. Then she took off after Xander. She was soon joined by Valt, Honcho, Daigo, and Ken. She jogged along, pacing herself and trying to catch her breath. She noticed a large pile of suspicious leaves. "¡Cuidado!" She warned. But of course, Valt didn't listen.

He was hoisted up into the air with a net, "What is with the roadwork?!" He yelled.

Xander looked up, "Oops, my bad."

Felicity sighed and cut him down, "When I say something in Spanish during a trek through here, it means that there is a trap around." She explained patiently.

Valt sighed as he rubbed his head, he had landed on his head, "Just say it in English!"

Felicity rolled her eyes, "I'm trying, it's just a habit to yell warnings in Spanish!" She said before dashing forward to catch up.

Suddenly, Xander stopped, causing the beyclub members to crash into him. A log came flying towards them. While Xander prepared to deal with it Felicity just calmly walked to the side of the path, completely missing the log. Then she stuck out one of the blades of her Swiss army knife and cut off the rope. The others looked down as it just tumbled away. Xander chuckled to himself, before leading them all to climb the steep cliff.

While Valt groaned, she sighed, trying to keep her cool. Shu would hate her if she snapped at one of his friends. But all it took was one more moan for her to crack, "I climbed a cliff like this knee-deep in the snow! You'll survive." She told him, the very simple truth.

Xander laughed as she hoisted herself up. "You're good. Wouldn't expect anything less from someone who won against me!" Then he turned to face Valt, who had finally managed to reach the top. "You kept up with me, I'll give you that. So, I'll go on ahead and go back down. 'Kay?" Without waiting for an answer, he charged down the steep slopes. Felicity pulled over the edge and shrugged, pulling out her BeyTrainer case, which had always been with her. It was a sturdy and bulky case. Its polished metal exterior perfect for her need. She blew her hair out of the way then stepped onto the case and kicked off downwards. The metal slid rapidly through the well-worn path. Once at the bottom, she picked it up and jogged the rest of the way. When she reached the end, it seemed that Xander had just arrived too. It was Yugo's shock when she walked out right behind him.

"Impossible! How are you not completely worn-out?" He asked.

Felicity shrugged, "I'm not saying that I'm ready to do another lap. It's just that I've trained a lot in the areas needed to complete the course." She wrung her ponytail out, letting a veritable flood of sweat dump itself out of her hair. "Well, anyway, I need some water." She sighed as she walked off. Shu glanced back at her and shook himself, he had to wait for Valt.

Xander seemed to notice, "Ya know, it could be a while before they come back..." He said teasingly.

Shu nodded, changing his mind, "I'll be right back." He briskly walked away, looking for Fliss.

Felicity looked around the centre, she didn't feel like admitting it, but she was lost. Who could she ask for directions? She looked at Falcon, silently asking its opinion. Her eyes blazed white. She was in the aura field, facing Falcon. Falcon, however, was looking around curiously. Felicity finds herself following its gaze, occasionally catching icy blue aura from her surroundings. "I can't see much." She finally said, "What do you see?"

Falcon stated curiously, "A Unicrest. Yes, definitely a Unicrest."

Felicity looked around, "What?"

Falcon didn't look away, "There is an immensely strong blader nearby, but you can't see him and I can't pinpoint his bey avatar. I wonder why."

Felicity looked closer at the blue aura traces, "You were talking about a Unicrest?"

Falcon nodded absent-mindedly, "Ah yes. It is most definitely a Unicrest with more than one split in its layer. Its performance tip reminds me of mine, except mine is a better version..."

Felicity thought on that, "Hmm... Something similar to yours. A Needle tip! There are only two kinds of layers for Unicrest, the normal and the U2. It an't be the normal if it has more than one split in its layer. You're talking about a bey with a Unicrest U2 energy layer and a Needle tip... The Unicrest U2 Down Needle!"

With that, she pulled herself out of the field. "You own a Unicrest U2 Down Needle. You are a powerful blader. I know you're there. I need your help." she declared to her surroundings. For a few seconds, she hoped she was not insane but then a light blue-haired boy popped up behind her. She might have been surprised if she hadn't sensed him first.

He grinned, "Hello there. Ukyo Ibuki at your service. You aren't too be taken lightly."

Felicity blinked, "I need your help. Would you know where I could get some water?" Ukyo thought for a few seconds before nodding with a casual smile.

"Sure, just follow me."

That was where Shu found Fliss, dumping ice-cold water over her head and her still fired-up skin, letting it sizzle and watching the steam rise on contact. Shu smiled slightly, "Hey, Fliss. When do you think the others will be back?" He asked.

Fliss shrugged, "Valt's not far behind, I'm sure of that. Daigo and Ken will probably manage to come soon after him, but Rantaro will take some time."

Shu nodded, "Congratulations, by the way, you managed to win against Xander. Now, will you tell me about that other move?"

Fliss smiled slightly, "Sure. You see this launcher?" She held up her launcher, "Before I use the move, I was always twitching the launcher. That is just a distraction, the real trick is here." She held up Falcon and deftly, one-handedly, exchanged the feather blade for a metal one.

Shu stared at her, He knew Fliss was innovative but this was a trick that actually struck him. "You're exchanging the agility boost for extra strike power! That's amazing! What do you call it?"

Fliss blushed lightly, she had been complimented a lot of times but something about being appreciated by Shu felt nice, "Thanks, it's called the Talon Strike."

Shu nodded before uncomfortably rubbing his neck, "We should probably go now, Valt might have come back."

Fliss nodded and followed him to the place Xander was waiting with Yugo. Valt had already arrived and Daigo and Ken struggled out from the foliage. Honcho took some time but rolled out in the end too. Daigo took some time to recompose himself, but quickly remembered about his need to question Shu. So, when Honcho and Xander started to battle, he walked over to Shu and Fliss, who were standing aside from the rest. "Hey, Shu can I talk with you for a sec?" He asked.

Shu looked away from the stadium, "Sure. What do you want to ask?"

Daigo rubbed his neck, "Alone, please." Fliss shrugged and walked over to Ken and Valt.

Shu blinked, "What did you want to ask?"

Daigo threw a glance at Felicity, "You and Felicity are close, right?" Was it just his imagination, or did Shu's eyes shrink and his cheeks redden just a bit?

Shu tried to hide the fact that he was flustered at all and answered casually, "Yeah, Fliss is pretty cool, why?"

Daigo still glanced at Felicity a couple of times. Fliss? What was that about? "Have you noticed odd things about her?"

Shu looked worriedly at Fliss. Should he tell Daigo? He formulated a casually indifferent answer, "What sort of odd things?"

Daigo narrowed his eyes, "I don't know, skin on fire? Changing eye color? Stuff like that?"

Shu looked around uncomfortably, "I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you should ask Fliss?"

Daigo nodded, "Right, I'll do that..."

The rest of the trip passed like a dream. The only thing on Daigo's mind was finding Felicity and solving the question that was plaguing his mind.

* * *

Felicity Flashback:

Location: Spain, FA: 10

"Where is he?" Fliss asked impatiently scanning the area. Fliss and Kajuri were leaning against the railing separating travelers from receiving parties at the El Astro Airport.

Kajuri sighed, "The plane from Mexico landed one minute ago. Security takes a lot of time."

Fliss sighed, "But it didn't take this much time before!"

Kajuri was about to retort when the familiar poncho-clad figure of Boa Alcazaba walked through the arrivals gate, looking cautiously around. Fliss waved her hand in the air, "Hey, Boa! Over here!" Boa smiled as he walked over to the two friends.

"Hi guys! What's up?" He grinned.

"Hey, Boa! You made it!" Kajuri grinned.

Boa gave him a blank look, "No way. I thought I was in Mérida." He said sarcastically.

Fliss read the danger signs, Kajuri was gonna blow. She quickly tore the two apart, "Anyways, did you see Ghost?"

The two took Boa to the beybattle hotspots and showed him BC Sol's home base. Boa marveled at Ghost, who had recently started randomly chasing after pigeons and pheasants.

Kajuri nudged Fliss, "So, we showed him around, now show your surprise!"

Boa grinned, "Really, what?"

Fliss grinned and dug into her bag, pulling out a shiny metal case, "Tada!"

Boa looked at it uncertainly, "Er... wow?" He finally said.

Fliss sighed, "Don't you know what this is?"

Boa rubbed the back of his head, "Can't say I do."

Kajuri, who was struggling to hold it in any longer, burst in, "She passed her BeyTrainer test! She's the youngest official WBBA BeyTrainer in existence!"

Boa blinked a few times, trying to process what Kajuri had just said, "You seem a lot more excited than the person who actually became the youngest BeyTrainer ever," He noted.

Fliss nodded, "I know, right? He hasn't shut up ever since I got the tab."

"So, what level are you on anyway?" Boa asked.

Fliss punched the air, "Finally someone asks! I was beginning to think that BeyTrainer levels were unheard of by everyone else! To answer your question, I'm just a level 8."

Fliss led him to the edge of the forest, "Now, my house is straight ahead, if you follow this path. Half a kilometer in, okay?"

Boa looked around uncertainly, "Uh, okay, but why are we just standing here? Aren't we going together?"

Fliss shrugged, "Well, kinda? I suppose we could walk, but a race is usually more fun."

"She only says that because she wins all the time," Kajuri whispered to Boa.

Boa smirked, "Not for long! Let's do it!"

The three took their places on the wide path. Boa grinned as he stretched, he didn't know how long this was gonna be but definitely, it was more than a five-meter sprint. Ghost circled above, screeching once, twice, thrice! Fliss took off, moving forward as fast she could. Boa gritted his teeth, in two months he had forgotten how agile she was! But he was good too, and he wasn't gonna be outdone by her! He sped up as well, going neck and neck, until he something wrapped around his foot, tugging him back and sending him colliding with the ground.

Fliss skidded at least half a meter until she could stop and check on Boa, "Hey, you okay? You tripped."

Kajuri, who had been left behind the two, caught up, gasping for air. "You don't go into forests much, do you?"

Boa rubbed his head, "Nah, everyone one says that the jungle in Mérida is dangerous."

Kajuri sighed. "There is a DIFFERENCE between a jungle and a forest, you know that?"

Boa was about to retort when Fliss interjected, saving themselves from a fight. "So, shall we continue?"

Boa nodded with a determined gleam in his eyes, "Yup." The two took off again, leaving Kajuri ion the dust. Fliss tried her hardest, using every ounce of her strength, but in the end, Boa came out on top.

"Good job!" She congratulated him, "Now come on! You'll love this!"

She led him over to the back of the house, when Boa caught sight of the chicken coop, "You have chickens!? I've never seen a chicken coop before."

Kajuri gave the coop a loathsome look, "Don't take them lightly, I swear they've got teeth."

Fliss sighed, "You're overreacting, Kajuri."

Boa looked between the two, "As fascinating as it will be listening to you compare notes about your battles against the chickens, where am I living again?"

Fliss snapped her fingers, "Oh, yes. Grandpa figured you two would enjoy this place. Follow me." She led them through the forest, stopping in front of a house built high up in a tree.

"Awesome! A treehouse!" Boa cheered, grabbing the rope and pulling himself up.

Kajuri shrugged and climbed up, "You haven't seen all the other buildings randomly scattered around here."

Boa looked starry-eyed at the stadiums and tire swings, "They're more places like this?"

Kajuri nodded, "Yeah, we once found a stadium covered with a shade that has been destroyed, just behind BC Sol."

Fliss nodded, "And another time we found some weights and training gear behind the waterfall."

"Oh, wow! After this, are we going there sometime?" Boa asked hopefully.

Fliss swung awkwardly on one of the tire swings, being unused to it, "We could, but it's boring."

Boa was obviously disappointed, "Oh, so what do you do for fun?"

Kajuri thought for a few seconds, "We mess about the stream a lot, playing some sort of hopscotch where the water is moderately deep. Then we play this game called 'Hunter'. You're supposed to be camouflaged with the surroundings of a clearing. One person who is 'it' is supposed to protect the egg while all the others try to steal it."

Boa raised an eyebrow, "I don't think we can use ordinary eggs."

Fliss shook her head, "No, we take a rock and paint it. Also, the person who is 'it' has the advantage of being able to set up traps."

"Unless it's overkill." Kajuri piped up. "Also, if the person who is 'it' catches you, you're out. Alright, lets play!"

* * *

Fliss put the brightly colored rock on the stump and covered her eyes, counting till twenty. When she opened her eyes, she looked around carefully. No one there. She closed her eyes and carefully listened for any disturbances. Nothing. They were being very careful.

She carefully sprinkled bracken around, to make it seem like she was moving. Then there was a scrabbling noise, of someone running through the shrubbery. She carefully surveyed her surroundings, searching for unnatural colors. Her eyes widened as they trained onto one spot. Bingo.

She tilted her head, pretending to listen to the side, then moving away to investigate whichever noise she heard. Very close to one of the trees she had leaned against, Boa sighed in relief, he had thought he was a goner. He shifted his arms, trying to get the numbness out. He checked his surroundings before dropping onto the ground and moving out of the area before he got caught. A tight pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and he screamed in surprise. He turned around to look at Fliss, who had covered her ears at the yell, "You're out, by the way. I don't think screaming is very strategic, since this is a stealth game," She supplied helpfully.

He groaned, "So who's 'it'?"

Fliss rubbed the back of her head, "Me until either I find Kajuri or Kajuri gets the egg."

Kajuri sighed as he dove through the shrubbery. He had played hiding games a lot, he was basically a ninja. He tied a few boots and wooden contraptions to a rope and carefully blended it in with the scenery. He looked back at Fliss and her location; not too far from here. Time to be concerned.

He hid in the bushes, before dashing out when she was talking to Boa, easily weaving his way through the bracken and bells and diving behind the stones littered about. His breath slowed as he heard her come over, biting his lip, he released the Backup Plan. The Backup Plan was to pull the pile he had tied together. He ugged three times.

Fliss stopped and moved over to the thing making the sound, trying to figure out what it was. She could see a moving mass, but what was it? Then she saw the concealed rope. How she missed it, she had no idea. It was dirty and very similarly colored to the ground. But she saw it and it clicked: Kajuri.

She swung around to grab the egg but too late. Kajuri had dived at the exact same time. He swung around and a scuffle ensued, Fliss grabbed the egg, Kajuri dropped it and hastily snatched it back, and so it went, going back and forth. But in the end, Kajuri stood triumphantly, holding the egg.

Fliss smiled, "Good for you, Kajuri. But I don't lose that easy. She grinned as dug the bright red egg out of her satchel.

Kajuri gave it a suspicious look, before dropping his copy. The clay replica smashed as it hit the ground. "I hate you." He groaned.


	10. Daigo's Trust! Wing launcher!

** Author note: Okay, short chapter this time. Not very plot-driven this time. Right now, we're entering the phase of Felicity's life where she herself is stumped and only her avatar knows the way. Also, interesting thing to take note of is that the flashbacks aren't in chronological order. What do you think of this chapter? Please tell me, feedback is dearly appreciated.**

Felicity stepped out from the train. The sun was setting already and all she really wanted to do was go back home. However, Daigo stopped her before she could leave, "Hey, I wanted to ask you something if you don't mind?" He said hesitatingly.

Felicity scanned his face before nodding, "Sure, let's talk somewhere else."

Daigo blinked a couple of times, he hadn't expected her to be so willing but followed her out of the station anyways. He started talking. "Sometimes, I think I see you surrounded by fire and smoke. I'm not really sure what it is and Shu didn't tell me anything, but he said you would know. So what's going on?"

It made sense now why Daigo had asked to talk to Shu alone. She carefully slid into the aura field and looked at Falcon, "Can he be trusted?"

Falcon nodded, "I suppose so. He's not one for spilling other's secrets."

Daigo waved a hand in front of her, uncertainly. She had once again gone into that state with completely white eyes. "Are-are you okay?" he asked as her eyes slowly reverted to normal.

Felicity waved away his concern, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll tell you the truth but promise me you'll tell no one."

"I promise."

Felicity sighed, "I'm not crazy before you start thinking that. So here's the thing, I was once training vigorously, using all my strength. It strained me so much that this started happening." She focused all her thoughts in the rush she got from battling Xander.

Daigo looked uncertainly around, "What are you- HOLY GOD!" he jumped back several feet as Felicity was surrounded by fire. He had always had suspicions that Felicity had this ability, but seeing it firsthand was very different. "Jeez, warn me next time!" he groaned.

Felicity shrugged, "Lo siento. I was only planning on firing up my arm, I am not very good at controlling it."

"What does that mean?"

Felicity facepalmed. "I said something in Spanish, didn't I? I just apologized."

Daigo shook his head, "Never mind, what is that fire thing?"

Felicity smiled, "It's my fighting spirit. Whenever I feel strong emotions I get fired up and my aura surrounds me. I usually hide my emotions well but sometimes it se escapa, sabes?"

Daigo translated in his head without too much trouble before nodding, "Yeah, I know. So what's with your eyes? They don't have anything to do with this."

Felicity faced him, dead serious, "Okay, so I can't demonstrate the next part, so take my word for it. I can...sometimes, talk to beys."

Daigo tilted his head, "Wait, really? Because that sounds impossible."

Felicity let out a short breath, "Well, that doesn't make it any less true, does it?"

Daigo had to agree on that one, "So when your eyes change color, they're mimicking the color of the aura of the bey you're talking to?" he guessed.

Felicity nodded, "¡Sí!" then she glanced down to her phone which had just vibrated. She read the notification for a second, "Sorry, I gotta go. Catch you later."

Daigo nodded, "Sure, Felicity."

Felicity walked away before pausing, "Oh and Daigo? Call me Fliss." then continued walking before Daigo could answer.

Felicity went back home buzzing. Daigo knew about her powers. Not that she minded, it's just she didn't want to be seen as anything more than a fire hazard. She opened her tab to let out some steam, messing about on its blueprint application. She wasn't paying much attention as she mucked about, adding bits and pieces from old ideas and adding them together. Her mind was far away, thinking about her friends.

Shu was an incredible person, always worrying about her, making sure she was okay, she was glad she had met him. Daigo was a good friend, she knew he was trustworthy and she could depend on him for everything and he was actually rather sharp. The way he went from quiet and edgy to light-hearted and loyal kinda reminded her of Boa's shift from cool and quiet to reveal a wicked sense of humor. Ken was nice enough, she supposed, always looking out for people and giving them a shoulder to cry on. Or smacking them back to reality, depending on which was more advisable. He was the anchor the other two members of the club needed. Rantaro was annoying for her, she was just used to having more soft-spoken friends, what with Boa being the silent prankster who tended to hide when his victims tried to discover him and Kajuri just behind the shy person focused on succeeding. Valt was nice, if he toned down the volume a little and was a little sharper. In a way, Rantaro and Valt were very similar. She was glad she had met people like them to pull her out of the hole she had dug herself into. She was glad of Spryzen being there too. Spryzen wasn't her bey, he didn't need to bother with her, but he had gone out of his way to warn her even though he thought she was a snarky troublemaker. She wanted to win the nationals so bad, she wanted to impress Shu more than anything right now. She glanced back down at what she had been subconsciously put together. She had made a small short gauntlet, like the ones she wore under her hoodie. Except it had a handle-less launcher attached to the top. What a stupid idea, she thought, completely impractical.

Falcon's musical voice sounded mock offended when it whispered into her ear, "I designed it, you know. It's sure to work." It was a rough sketch, but still its complexities shone through.

"This is beyond anything I've learned," Felicity explained, why were they having this conversation? They resonated, plus, Falcon was a bey who had taught her majority of what she had known, she should know this.

Falcon shook her head, "Don't be like that. All you need is to set your mind to it. It can be done if you try. You really want to win this tournament, right? To compete in the nationals? It has been quite some time since we ever were in a tournament. We should train more for that, we've got a solid chance. Come on, if not to win and get to battle Shu, then for me."

Felicity looked down, contemplating the idea of impressing someone who had done so much for her and doing something for her bey at the same time, "Alright, I'll do it."

Falcon raised her wings, "Brilliant!" she smiled, "Now let's work!"

Felicity turned back to her BeyTab, a determined expression over her face. She added an arm there to give a better idea of its shape. "Lets put the ripcord over the arm, vertically." she decided, shifting the position of the ripcord.

"Then we will have to add a few gears to adjust it with me," Falcon added. Felicity nodded and slowly started reworking the ripcord's basic functionality.

More ideas were tossed around, then Felicity held up her final draft some hours later. "And we're done! It still seems impossible to actually pull off, just so you know, but you seem pretty confident."

"I'm right about this. Build a prototype and test it out if you don't believe me." Falcon insisted.

Felicity readily agreed, despite the fact that she could feel drowsiness beginning to set in. She modified one of the launchers she had lying about, adding an extra gear or two, then breaking out the handle and fixing it to one of her leather gauntlets. She tested it out a couple of times before she attached Falcon to the launcher. She positioned herself in front of the stadium, preparing to launch. It certainly felt different, using her arm as a launcher. She counted down. 3! 2! 1! Let it... rip! Falcon landed shakily and Felicity shook her head. It moved too much when she adjusted her weight. She needed balance. But before she could do that, she needed a proper version of the launcher. She set up a tower of boxes, made sure it was stable then climbed on top of it to practice. She used her BeyTab while she practiced, perfecting the launcher.

Two hours later, Fliss yawned and accidentally fell off the tower again. Her design had been completed just now and her balance was improving. Now, she just needed some sleep before she actually made the launcher.

Felicity Flashback:

Location: Spain, FA: 8 (Before she meets Boa, nearly a week before the trip to Mexico.)

Kajuri and Felicity were skipping rocks, "Okay, so your idol blader is Lui Shirosagi. What beyclub would you join if you were to choose?" Felicity asked as she skipped another one.

"Me? Probably the Royals, but my chances of getting there are very slim. How about you?" Kajuri answered.

Felicity threw a rock as far as she could, "AS Gallus."

Kajuri turned towards her, "Wait, what? Why AS Gallus? That's the worst team in the world."

Felicity threw a large stone into the river, "You don't know that. I think they have good bladers, they just gave up trying. I've always thought they would be an amazing team to join."

Kajuri sat down and started building a tower of their remaining rocks, "Like, how dedicated are you to this goal?"

Felicity smirked, "I learned French!" she said proudly.

Kajuri raised his eyebrow, "Really?"

Felicity blushed sheepishly, "Okay, I'm not fluent in it, but I could probably understand what others were saying. Grandpa Raul gave me lessons with one of his apprentices once, but I never really was able to master it."

Kajuri shrugged, "Maybe you should look for other options in beyclubs. I mean, with your skills, you might actually stand a chance at getting into the Raging Bulls!"

Felicity shook her head, "I'm not that big of a fan of sterilized gyms and star power. I mean, I train better outside. I can't grow stronger surrounded by life less bladers who care about nothing but winning."

Kajuri laughed, "You do what you do, Felicity. But I'm pretty sure that anyone will jump for the chance to become a member of the Raging Bulls."

Felicity angled the flat rock she had found and threw it so it skipped seven times, "Not me. I'm never going to New York, probably not even America."


	11. Snow day! solo training!

Felicity flashback:

FA: 11, Location: Saguenay, Quebec, Canada

Kajuri excitedly fidgeted as the trio stepped out of the plane and through security. "Hurry up, you two, there's so much to show you guys! What do you want to do first? We could go ice skating, have a snow fight, it'll be awesome!"

Boa anxiously looked around. "I don't know about this," he muttered, "Why did I let you talk me into this? I have never seen snow in my life!"

Felicity patted his back comfortingly. "It's not that bad. Snow is fun."

By that time they had stepped out of the airport. Boa clutched at his scarf. "And it's cold!" he choked out.

Kajuri rubbed his neck. "Yeah, forgot to mention that. But still, it's January, Saguenay looks amazing this time of year!"

Felicity put on earmuffs. "Not exactly what I was expecting, I mean Spain is a lot less cold. But with enough layers, it'll be fun. I'm so glad Ghost didn't come with me."

The three friends had planned a trip to Kajuri's homeland, Canada, with his dad. Turns out, most parents aren't as trusting as Fliss and Boa's. Boa had been excited at the prospect of seeing a city covered in snow but hadn't realized exactly how cold it would be. Fliss wanted to get in some practice in different environments and Kajuri wanted to get an autograph from Lui Shirosagi. Fliss had never really looked him up but she was partially sure that Kajuri only admired him because of his skill since his picture in the BeyTrainer database didn't exactly give friendly vibes. Boa looked around in interest but stayed silent for the most part as he had never seen this much snow before.

Kajuri's father ushered them to the house where they were staying. Boa gratefully walked inside the heated room. "So warm," he sighed as he sank next to a small fireplace in the hall.

Kajuri chuckled as Fliss sat on the ground and put-out both her hands in front of the flames. "Yeah, it's cold here. Will you be okay?"

Fliss got up from the floor and started hanging her coat on the coatrack. "I'll be fine in a few minutes. Boa might need something warmer, though."

Kajuri grinned. "I've got just the thing." He led them to the main room, which was filled with rugs and couches and a proper hearth. "Wait here."

Minutes later, he arrived with a tray of steaming mugs filled with some brown liquid. Boa's eyes lit up. "Hot chocolate! This was exactly what I need," gratefully taking his mug. Fliss thanked him before taking her mug too.

They did a lot of things in Canada such as obstacle courses, snow fights, sledding, skiing, and a lot more. Today they were going ice skating. Fliss uncertainly stepped out onto the icy frozen lake with her skates on. She started fine but started wobbling after a few seconds before collapsing on the ground. Kajuri bent over and helped her up. "Looks like you aren't good at everything after all!" he laughed.

Felicity chuckled too. "I'll get there," she said. "It'll take some time but I'll get there."

Main story:

Felicity woke up in the morning, fresh and excited. She had breakfast and fed Ghost before going to her working space. She sketched out some final designs for her launcher and added some reference notes to the blueprint. When she was happy with the finished result, she took out spare pieces of plastic and metal. The launcher got molded, painted and Fliss decorated it with small designs etched in with the red metal-tipped feather. She finally lifted the finished result. It was shaped slightly like a bird head, with the bey being connected to the beak. The launcher was mostly white fading into black with feathery imprints highlighted in blue and flashing yellow eyes. The string had a red holder with a small wing emblem. She attached it to the leather gauntlet she was wearing and twisted the new launcher around, admiring it.

Daigo knocked on the door of Fliss' home. They were going to the dojo today for a team battle with the Sword Flames. Fliss opened the door after a few moments. "Oh, hey Daigo! What's up?"

Daigo noted the black and white plastic thing on her arm, "We were having a team battle with the Sword Flames today, remember? Are you coming?"

Fliss rubbed her neck and chuckled. "I'm planning on sitting this one out. I've got to train some more. I'm working on something new."

Daigo deflated. He had thought that with Felicity around they had a better chance at winning, but she was obviously busy with her own thing, and she just wasn't as close to the club as the others. That, and she probably was hoping for an invitation to the Regionals. "Sure. Good luck with your new move."

Fliss smiled. "Thanks for understanding. Bye!" She quickly shut the door and checked the time. 1 o'clock. The making of the proper launcher took up more time than she had hoped. She picked up Falcon and put on her beyblading gear. She went to the BeyStadium in the yard, positioned herself, and launched. The landing was shaky but better than the last time she tried before Daigo visited. She was probably gonna need a couple of weeks before it was perfected, but she was getting there. She picked up her bag and filled it with her schoolbooks, finally, they were coming in handy. She didn't understand why Grandpa Raul wanted her to go to school; she was homeschooled when she was little and took online courses while she was on her travels, but for Japan, he had insisted that she enroll in a school. Not that she had anything against it; it was fun sometimes.

She went out to the park's beystadium and built a tower with the books, it was high enough so that it would be difficult balancing, yet it was low enough that if she fell she wouldn't be seriously hurt. She stood on top and launched. Falcon landed more or less alright, although a bit slow. That was something she had to work on. She practiced launching a few more times before she decided to train a different way.

She picked up a pair of stilts (not that high, just two feet tall). She practiced on them near the riverbank until her balance was good. Next, she had to work on her launch speed, so she tied a tire to a rope and slung it over a tree branch to simulate a launcher. She pushed it and caught it for a good few hours. At 4 o'clock she went on her everyday run. She was slightly worn-out by the time she reached the Aoi bakery, so she decided to go in. It was warm in there and it smelled delicious. A black-haired, purple-eyed woman looked up, who Felicity assumed was Valt's mom. Her face broke into a smile. "Hi, there! I'm Chiharu Aoi, and you must be Felicity. Valt's told me so much about you, I knew what you looked like even though I've never met you!"

Felicity wasn't surprised, Valt was the kind of person to fawn about every strong blader who he saw. "Yeah, that's me."

"Valt was so upset that you couldn't help out in the team battle, but he understood. Anyway, why are you here?" Chiharu asked.

Felicity shrugged, "I had to train a little, on my own. I think I'm falling behind. I was halfway through my daily run and thought that I would buy some bread. Shu told me how great your bread is."

Chiharu's eyes gleamed at that. "Then take a look around. Tell me if you see anything good."

Felicity thanked her and moved to look at the display of bread. Her eyes caught the bread designed like Valtryek, Roktavor, Kerbeus, and Doomsizor. She turned to assess them and Chiharu leaned over. "They're called Bey Bread, created by yours truly. Do you like them?"

Felicity nodded, "They're nice, they remind me of something my granddad taught me."

"What was it?" she asked.

"Working replicas of Beyblades made out of flavored rock candy. They were amazing."

"That sounds brilliant! I know you're probably busy training but can you show me?"

Felicity blinked up at the woman, "Um... It's no trouble. I'll be happy to show you."

Time skip: I don't know how to make a sugar Beyblade :(

Chiharu grinned, "These are perfect! They look wonderful! Thank you so much!" They were in the kitchen, Chiharu was fawning over a tray filled with Valtryek, Roktavor, Doomsizor, and Kerbeus candy replicas.

Felicity blushed lightly, "It was no trouble. Anyway, I've got to go now, it was nice to meet you."

Chiharu smiled back, "Come back soon!" she called as Felicity walked out of the store. She nodded in reply and continued her run. She was passing the riverbank when she saw the train arrive. She shrugged and changed her course towards the train station to greet the Bey Club.

She knew something was up when she felt their dismal auras, or rather, Falcon told her about it. Their faces were the next red flag. Everyone was sad, close to tears. "What's wrong?" She asked when they stepped off.

Shu sighed, "They lost."

Valt sniffed, "That and Ken's moving away!"

A quick look at everyone's faces told her that was the main problem, "Oh, er, sorry." she quickly recovered.

Ken shrugged, "I always knew we were gonna move, but I didn't think it was gonna be this soon."

Valt nodded. "That means we'll still practice tomorrow, right?"

Ken nodded. "For sure!"

Fliss smiled, "Cool. I'll be there."

The others dispersed very quickly, leaving Shu and Fliss to walk home together. Shu sighed as he matched her easy loping gait, "So what were you doing today?" he asked.

Fliss played with her ponytail, "Training. Regionals start in a week, I can't fall behind."

Shu nodded, "Yeah, I understand. What's up with your arm?" he said gesturing to the bulge under Fliss' sweatshirt on her forearm.

Fliss scuffed at the ground, "Just a stupid idea. Falcon told me to give it a shot, so I decided to stay back and work on it."

Shu glanced curiously at it, "What is it?"

Fliss rolled her sleeve back to reveal the strapped launcher, "I call it the Wing Launcher. Looks cool but it'll take a while before I can pull it off."

Shu marveled at it, "It looks awesome. You could get a real boost from it!"

Fliss tilted her head so her eyes caught the light, "Aww, thanks! I had my doubts about it, but if you think it might work, I guess I could practice a bit more."

Next day:

Chiharu grinned as she pulled out her Kerbeus themed bey bread, "Since Ken's moving away, I made a Kerbeus bonanza! I even got something special for you all!" She said as she pulled out a box filled with green beys.

Rantaro blinked, "Uh... You bought several Kerbeus?" he guessed lamely.

Chiharu shook her head, "No! These are sugar replicas of Kerbeus! Don't they look good?"

Ken blinked and picked one up and licked it. The group stared at his reaction. He licked his lips, "It tastes really good! Thanks, Mrs. Aoi!"

Felicity knew who really made the sugar beys but contented herself with knowing Ken liked it. She didn't want to ruin Mrs. Aoi's moment. Besides, she loved the bread. It was way better than she expected, so she busied herself with eating

This is probably the last one until next month. But I'm planning something special for next chapter, so put in any questions you have for the characters.


	12. The Regionals!

Felicity sighed as she settled into a more comfortable position on the railing around the roof, watching Daigo and Valt practice. Valtryek had started a Rush Launch and went in for the kill. Daigo grunted, and Doomsizor growled and screamed in frustration, but only Felicity and the other avatars could hear it. She smiled softly as she felt Valtryek's power radiating off the two. A voice broke through her reverie, "Felicity, stop standing on the fences, they are there for a reason."

Felicity turned around to see Principal Shinoda and quickly clambered off. "Lo siento, sir."

He shook it off, though, "Guess what came in the mail today?" he asked, then answered his own question. "Invitations to the Regionals!" He held out a small stack of envelopes.

"Hey, Xander was talking about this!" Nika said, "It's kinda like a second chance to get into the Nationals!"

Valt cheered, "AWESOME! Let's see who got an invite!"

The group crowded around the principal expectantly, "The first invitation goes to..."

At that time, Valt jumped in, "ME!"

"Wait for him to call your name out first!" Rantaro chided.

Valt rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, I'm just so excited!"

Principal Shinoda continued, "... Daigo Kurogami. Congratulations, it appears your efforts have been recognized."

Felicity turned her head towards Daigo, who seemed a bit confused. "Me?" He asked as he took it from the principal.

"Of course, you're awesome!" Valt said, returning to his usual optimism from his earlier disappointment. "Next invitation, please!"

"Let's see... Ah yes, Felicity Comas. Your reputation follows you everywhere."

Valt collapsed, and the twins' jaws dropped. "You didn't even participate!" Rantaro said in a slightly envious tone.

The principal was back to shuffling. "Hoji Konda... Wakiya Murasaki."

Toko looked down through the barrier, "If you're looking for them, they're running around the school field."

Principal shrugged, "Let them enjoy their run. The last one is left."

Rantaro bit his lip, and Valt was trembling, "The tension is killing me!" Rantaro said nervously.

"And it goes to Valt Aoi. Good luck, all of you." Principal Shinoda held out the invitation to Valt, who grabbed the piece of paper with some hesitance.

"Are you sure its the last one?" he asked, looking back at Rantaro, who was obviously going through a mini heart attack.

Felicity blinked, "Well, I gotta go, bye." And she was halfway down the stairs when she heard a faint smash.

Falcon whispered in her ear, "I think he slammed into the wire fence."

Felicity chuckled slightly, then her eyes shot wide open with realization. "GHOST!" She ran back to the roof, where Ghost was sitting, happily gnawing on a piece of bone. Felicity blinked and helped her onto her arm, "Who gave you the food?" she wondered aloud.

"It was me. To say thank you for snatching this outta the air for me." Rantaro's voice said behind her. He was grinning wildly, clutching an invitation that looked a lot like hers.

Felicity smiled, "Good for you. See you at the competition." Then she did an about-turn and left.

Behind her, Rantaro huffed, "Rude!" Behind her back. But she didn't care, biting remarks were like nibbles to her now. She left school and walked to the park. She was about to turn in to the street where the park was, but she caught sight of a familiar white-haired figure in grey and red workout attire and sped up to catch up to him.

Shu spun around when he heard Fliss approaching, "Um... Hey, I heard that the invitations are out. Did you get one?"

Fliss showed the envelope, "Yeah, isn't it great?"

Shu nodded, "Congratulations! Did you get the launcher working as well?"

Felicity shook her head, "It's really unpredictable and shaky, maybe after the Regionals, I'll go get some help for it."

Shu shoved his hands into his hoodie, "Where are you going?"

Felicity played with her ponytail, "Spain, maybe? Grandpa Raul's got some friends in Japan as well, maybe they'll help me."

Shu looked up at Ghost, who was circling over them, "Sounds fun. See you in the Nationals then?" he recovered from his initial shock.

Felicity smiled, "Yeah, definitely."

The next day, Felicity woke up to the ringtone of her phone instead of her alarm clock. She fumbled for it and looked at the caller id: Grandpa Raul. She clicked the answer button and held it to her ear. (The two are speaking in Spanish, but I was too afraid to see what errors Google Translate would make, so just think they are talking in Spanish, kay?:)) Her grandpa answered in his relaxed, humorous tone, "Were you expecting me?"

Felicity grinned, Grandpa Raul was lax with her, but since the events of last year, she was afraid she was growing too distant with him, "No, but I'm glad you called."

"It's one AM, just so you know. I'm surprised I was able to stay awake to call you." He snickered.

"You have no idea how weird it is to hear your voice again." She muttered as she pulled out a bowl and some eggs.

"Well, good luck for the tournament, kid. Not like you need it, hehe..." he chuckled.

Felicity cracked the eggs, still balancing the phone on her shoulder, "How did you know I was in the tournament?"

"Even though you can't tell, parental consent is a requirement. I was notified that you were participating in an international, regional tournament in Japan." He guffawed. "Anyways, how's Ghost? Are you both doing okay?"

Felicity beat the eggs, "Yeah, we're fine. Are you sleeping well?"

Cure the signature chuckle. "I was, but I had to wish my favorite prodigy good luck first. Goodnight, now." And the line went dead.

Felicity put her phone on charge and finished making the scrambled eggs, boiling some food for Ghost when she woke up. She shoveled down her breakfast, then changed out of her blue and red pajamas and into her black pants and a black and white hoodie. Fliss brushed her hair into a ponytail and then strapped her Beyblade carrier and launcher on. She pulled a glove over her scarred hand and put on some leather bands around her forearms. (A/N I realized gauntlets are gloves, not leather sleeves, my bad.) She went to check on Ghost, who was flapping around in her room, warming up for a day of flying. "Eat up," She said, gesturing to the dish of boiled meat. "We got a long day ahead."

She and Ghost made their way to the outdoor arena where the Regionals were taking place. She drew lots of eyes of Beyblade fans, but Ghost's menacing beak kept a mob from forming. She was about to take a spot in the line when she heard a shout, "Hey! Felicity!" She turned around to see the Beyclub running toward her.

"Oh, hey, guys." She replied cooly.

"Is this awesome or what?!" Valt screamed excitedly.

"Yeah, but less screaming would be better," she responded half-jokingly.

The line wasn't overly long, just thirty or less, and their turn came soon enough. DJ Blader's voice rang over the place, "And two members of the Supreme Four are in the crowds!" The jumbotron showed Shu and Xander waving at the camera in amusement. She registered on, and his attention immediately switched, "It appears we have professional here! It's Felicity Comas, from the Raging Bulls!" And her picture from the WBBA database got displayed for a second. She sighed and pulled her hood up, not really in the mood to sign autographs.

When everyone was registered, the stage was obscured by a fog machine. A figure rose up from underneath, and Blader DJ yelled out, "There appears to be a celebrity in our midst! It's the one and only... Zac the Sunrise!" The fog parted to reveal a boy with long blond hair and red highlights in his bangs and blue eyes.

He struck a pose, and the fangirls cheered, so he struck another and another before stopping, "I'm sorry for being so cool, everyone!" he bragged.

The participants all sweatdropped. "What's with this guy?" Valt whispered.

Felicity sighed, "That's the third member of the Supreme Four, Zac. I didn't realize he would be so..." she trailed off meaningfully.

Daigo nodded, "He's a big TV star. Really famous, but not a bad Blader either."

Rantaro followed it up, "He's got some big hit music records too."

Felicity nodded, "So he's like the Joshua Burns of Japan?"

Valt looked over. "The what?"

Felicity waved her hand, "Big movie star. Part of the International Big Four."

Valt's eyes shined. "Then, Zac is awesome!" Then, as though he was hypnotized, he made his way closer to the stage. By now, the superstar had been pulled up into the air with individual ropes in front of the screen. The screen now showed a spiral galaxy.

The other three looked on uneasily. "Three minutes in, and Zac's already doing something stupid," Rantaro muttered.

Zac was going on, "Everyone put on a good show and have great matches for me, okay?"

Then he caught sight of Valt, who had climbed up on the stage. "You're awesome! Just like Shu and Xander!"

"Bro?!" Toko said worriedly.

"He just climbed up there, is that okay?" Nika said.

Valt went on, "I'm Valt Aoi. And I want to have a battle with you!" he declared with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Felicity facepalmed, "Seriously?!"

Zac, however, seemed rather pleased with the idea, "Well, hurry up and get to the Nationals, Twinkle Toes. I look forward to our battle." With that, he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

Valt grinned, "You got yourself a deal!" he yelled to no one in general.

On the other side, at the top of the bleachers, Zac's sparkly throne rose up, with him in it. He threw up his hands in a flourish, "I, Zac the Sunrise, declare this year's Regional Tournament, open!"

The next few rounds went exactly as expected. Valt won against Ukyo, it was a close one, but he got by with his usual score of 2-1. Daigo and Rantaro both passed their matches quickly. Then it was time for Felicity's game. She was paired up with Kyoji Aranami.

She tightened her ponytail and walked up. Kyoji was still as obnoxious as he was before. He made a face when she stepped forward, "You think I'll go easy on you, just cause you're a girl?"

Felicity raised her eyebrows but made no comment. Toko leaned towards Shu, "He's making a BIG mistake," he whispered.

Kyoji didn't get the hint. "You got lucky if you won a spot on the Raging Bulls! So what if I lost against your friend, I'm not gonna lose to a girl!"

Felicity took out her launcher and went down into her launch stance. Kyoji did the same. Felicity flicked up and down, studying Kyoji's posture and predicting his Kerbeus's trajectory so she could adjust herself accordingly. She looked at Kyoji intimidatingly, "Tu funeral."

While Kyoji's face contorted to figure out what she had just said, Falcon hissed in her ear, "Your positioning is off-point. Here, let me..." Felicity allowed herself to move according to the warm flashes of aura in her body, letting Falcon direct her into the proper stance.

The referee stood in the center, "3! 2! 1! Let it... RIP!" And the beys were off! Then there was a metallic clunk, seconds into the battle, and Falcon was the only one still spinning. Kerbeus was burst around the stadium.

The crowd gasped in confusion, Kyoji looked absolutely flabbergasted, and the referee was still trying to comprehend what just happened. Shu, however, gave a pleased grunt, and Xander let out an amused chuckle. Valt and the others exchanged high fives, "Way to go, Felicity! That's how it's done!" Valt yelled, excitedly.

Zac blinked, "Wow, she's not bad. Poor kid barely had a chance." He smiled, "Though she's not much of performer, that match wasn't even a second long."

The referee held up a hand towards Felicity, and DJ Blader freaked out, "Will you believe that, folks! Newcomer Felicity Comas won a match in less than half a second! What an incredible battle!"

Kyoji fell to his knees, completely stunned. Felicity sent a you-were-asking-for-it look at him before turning her attention over to the board, which announced her next match. A young boy, with a sideways baseball cap and a red tank top, going by the name Hiro Yuhi. She looked across the crowd of participants and picked the kid out quickly. He was taller than Valt and was assessing her as well. She gave him a quick nod and stalked off the stage. The boy -Hiro- bounced on his feet, excitedly, "I can't wait to battle her, she's powerful!"

DJ Blader continued talking, "That marks the end of this round. Next, on the semifinal rounds, we have for Block A: Valt Aoi, versus Rantaro Kiyama. For Block B: Wakiya Murasaki and Hoji Konda!" Felicity sighed and pulled out her tablet as Rantaro and Valt went away for the battle; she should at least start strategizing for tomorrow's match. She looked up Hiro's name on the WBBA Database and quickly narrowed her results. It wasn't hard to find, but she got it.

Hiro Yuhi, he used a special bey called Livid Lycanthe. It was a balance type by definition, but could actually switch between two modes: Attack and Defense by rotating its Forge Disk and changing the Performance tip, so it was taller. Each mode completely flipped the bey's capabilities, making it seem impossible that the stats for the two modes actually belonged to the same bey. He was a somewhat talented chess player, nothing extraordinary, but his success in it made it clear he was a strategist. Now she was worried. Not too concerned but enough to start working on countermeasures immediately.

Felicity Flashback: FA= 11, Location= Canada

Felicity, Boa, and Kajuri were having a snowball fight. The three had built their reserves and bases and were already lobbing balls of white powder at each other. Suddenly, Kajuri's attention was diverted somewhere else, leaving him open to a faceful of snow from Fliss. He just wiped the white powder off his face, then looked at her with his left eye twitching, "I was distracted!" he yelled at Boa's teasing smirk.

Felicity looked around, "Oh yeah? By what?"

Kajuri pointed some way away, at a figure with flaming electric blue hair. He was kind of short, and he wore a white woolen coat. Fliss, with a jolt, realized that was Lui Shirosagi. "What do you want with him, anyway?" she continued. "His autograph?"

Kajuri looked indignant, "No! I want a battle!" he said eagerly with a stupidly wide grin, considering he was just 10.

Boa looked down as he scuffed at the dirt, "I dunno... he's kinda strong."

Kajuri shook his head, "I'm gonna ask him anyways!" then he picked himself up from the snow heap and walked over to the flame-haired blader.

Felicity and Boa exchanged glances, "We should follow him." Boa suggested. Felicity nodded, and the two, gathering as much snow as they could, followed their teal haired friend.

The two could hear Lui screaming at the kid when they finally caught up, "THE FACT THAT A LITTLE WORM LIKE YOU EVEN ASKED ME FOR A BATTLE IS JUST INSULTING! WHY WOULD A RUNT LIKE YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT CHALLENGING ME?!" Felicity and Boa needed no further urging. Both simultaneously dumped their loads on Lui's back while he was yelling at their friend and ran for their lives. Lui's screams of rage and frustration as the three friends dashed away could be heard miles away, but they didn't care. They were friends, and they always had each other's back.

Author note: I'm back! Now, remember the special thing I was planning? Well, Felicity will finally give an introduction to the BeyTrainer ranking system! Alright, let's hear her comments!

Rank 10: "There is no actual way an aspiring Beytrainer can take an exam and end up with a rank 10. Nearly every blader is at least a rank 10. All you need is a basic understanding of launching and typing to get Rank ten. Even Valt can get a rank 10!"

Rank 9: "A person who can understand the stats and how the different pieces of a bey will complement the overall performance to get an idea of what a person's weakness is and build a strategy around it, based on extremely detailed sources, is a rank 9. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not. It's like figuring out that removing Flash Valtryek's Forge Disk will increase speed but decrease power. It may be a stretch, but I think Daigo fits the bill."

Rank 8: "Knowing exactly how much difference is in each launcher design and being able to figure what the purpose of each stadium is was something I was taught since I was a kid. Knowing how to design a launcher based on the blader's own style takes some time. But given everything I know, it's something both Hoji, and perhaps Wakiya may pull off."

Rank 7: "Manipulating Physics is the next hoop to jump through. It certainly isn't easy, but it can be done. It has less to do with your skill in the lab and more to do with skill outside. To first pick a combination that is capable of harnessing forces like wind and then pulling off the technique yourself. It is no small feat since until now only Kit Lopez has done anything like it- and me, of course!"

Rank 6: "Out of stadium performing is extremely similar to the Rank 7 focus concept. It's a hard concept to grasp without experience or well-honed skills. Cuza Akermann, with the Tightrope trick, is one of these."

Rank 5: "Making beys is the endgame of these ranks, but before you must hone the skill of being a Beyblade Making Assistant. Knowing exactly what the expert needs at every single step and being rehearsed so as not to mess with tempo needs practice. If you helped out other BeyTrainers as much as I have, it becomes second nature by the time you're twelve!"

Rank 4: "To evolve a bey is your second step. No shortcuts, I'm afraid. Believe me, I tried. But the simple truth is, how can you create something of your own if you cannot improve what is already made? This step is hard to pass because you need a recommendation from a BeyTrainer who gave you an apprenticeship and is of a rank higher than 3."

Rank 3: "Then you reach your endgame. Woohoo! You can make beys by yourself now!"

Rank 2: "Now comes pure brainwork. Rank 3's and above are normally employed by world-rank Beyclubs due to them being skilled at a lot of things and getting through on each exam not by luck but by skill. Rank 2's in all regards are especially good at analysis. To analyze a SwitchStrike bey with all its different components and spontaneously think up a strategy? You can see why I couldn't pull it off."

Rank 1: "The people who get to this level are really the best of the best. One of the most flashing characteristics of each BeyTrainer to get to this level? Their ability to create beys completely akin to that of a blader's spirit. To be able to capture your fighting spirit perfectly in a bey is what makes Rank 1's like Grandpa Raul so famous!"


	13. Doomsizor's Despair! Fliss's Confusion?

Felicity leaned back in her chair, trying not to look too concerned. Ghost was outside the window, delicately preening, and she strained her power as far she could, but Doomsizor's resonance wasn't showing up. Daigo... of all the times to be late, it had to be before a test. "Why are you so worried?" Falcon's playful voice asked her, "There's still some time before he's officially late." Felicity sighed and was about to reply when Daigo ran into the room, panting heavily as though he had run a marathon to get here. She sighed and returned her attention to her notebooks, taking the time to soak up all the information she missed before the revision period was over. Daigo sat down before looking around and groaning. Realizing all too late that he had come in the class right before a pop quiz.

The teacher raised her hand, "Okay, class. Today we'll be having a new student. Please meet Akiba Honori." A young student walked in. He had purple-blue hair which hung over one eye, leaving a yellow eye uncovered, with dark teal streaks. He was rather dark-skinned and wore a grey shirt with a forest green jacket. He had a Beyblade symbol over his shoulder and Beyblade gear around his waist. So he was obviously a blader. He had a dark-green spade sign on his cheek and what looked like playing cards dangling out of his front pocket.

Later, after the tortuous quiz, Felicity grinned as the bell rang, and she sprung up. Recess! Daigo seemed to be really focused on something, so she followed him. "Hey, why were you late anyway?" she asked, probably as bluntly as possible.

Daigo shrugged. "I woke up in the morning and decided to go training. Then I realized I have school today. Big mistake."

Felicity chuckled. "Yeah, happens a lot. So you're battling Valt over the outcome of a foot-race or something?" She said, her eyes narrowed as though she was confused.

Daigo spun around. "How did you..."

Felicity tapped her forehead. "Bey telepathy, remember?"

Daigo spaced out for a second before shaking himself back into reality. "Yeah, so I'll battle him first, then it's probably you vs. me."

Felicity shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

When they reached the meeting place, Toko, Nika, Honcho, and Valt were already there. "Hey, Daigo! We're gonna settle the score for this morning now!" Valt yelled out. Daigo nodded and headed forward.

The two took their stances. "3! 2! 1! Let it... rip!" The two beys landed at nearly the same time and immediately charged for each other. Doomsizor made the first devastating contact. Vaktryek burst instantly.

Daigo smirked. "A bey battle's more than about speed and power. It's about timing."

Nika jumped in. "Yeah! Like Felicity did that cool launch against Honcho and Kyoji, the Aerial Strike! If the timing is off by a second, she could even end up soaring over the stadium."

Toko grinned. "Woah, Felicity, Daigo, you're amazing!"

Valt finally put Valtryek back together. "Whatever! Let's go again! We've just started!"

Honcho jumped in, "No way! Daigo and I'll battle next!"

Daigo rubbed his neck. "I was kinda hoping Felicity would battle me," he said apologetically.

Felicity shook her head. "I don't feel up to it. You two should battle first."

Honcho fist-pumped then took his stance.

It took a few battles for the others to finally battle till their fighting spirit was appeased, so here she was, fighting in a battle royale with all four members of the beyclub. She steadied her aim and launched. Falcon's monochromatic blur collided straight with Valtryek in the ideal scenario for the Feather Launch. Valtryek didn't burst, she didn't expect it to either. The bond that Valtryek shared with Valt was too strong for that. The Bey just fell over the side, but Falcon's feathered edge acted as a parachute and lowered her into the arena, where Doomsizor was already attacking Roktavor with vigor.

Falcon started a barrage attack, delivering quick hard blows. Daigo cursed as Doomsizor was smashed into Roktavor, disrupting the balance of both the beys. Roktavor's stamina ran out, and it lay lifelessly in the stadium.

Felicity smiled, however. "Falcon, Reverse Orbit." The black and white Bey continued to deliver the barrage attack, but getting slower and slower, then it picked up a large amount of speed suddenly and finished off Doomsizor with a burst.

Rantarou sank down on his knees, "All three of us, in five minutes. So embarrassing. At least have the common decency to act like it was difficult!"

Felicity's expression was one of mild disinterest. "Whatever, you got your battle with me. Now, let me work on my strategy." With that, she turned around and left, her 'wounded' bird following her.

Daigo looked at the time, surprised. Visiting hours at the hospital was over soon, he couldn't believe he almost missed out on seeing Ryota. "I should be going too."

Felicity exhaled as she walked down the street, happy and relaxed. She was pretty sure she'll be able to combat the massive attack power of Livid Lycanthe or break away its keen defenses using Talon Strike. But in case that didn't work, she was perfecting her Needle Balance so that she could use it on a moving target. However, the chances weren't high that the move would work on a fast Bey like Lycanthe. Reverse Orbit seemed like a good plan.

Felicity really wasn't gonna hold anything back. Not this time.

She paused at the stadium in the park. Someone was practicing there; with a jolt, she realized it was the Akiba kid who was introduced in class this morning. "He's powerful," Falcon's voice murmured. "Except, you can't tell that very well using your senses. He's got a different type of resonance than usual. A sort of fuzzy one-way connection with every Bey."

Felicity's eyes widened with interest. "So you can talk to him?"

Falcon hummed in agreement. "It would appear so. He has a rather small range, compared to you, and he can't speak to us very well, judging from my efforts to contact him. He's used to us giving him messages before battle."

Felicity stroked Ghost. "What's that supposed to mean? He uses beys as messengers?"

Falcon sighed. "A bey usually mimics the emotions and mindset of its wielder. He uses his uniquely shaped resonance to piece together what sort of strategy or method of attack the opponent has and work against it. He uses the condition of the Bey itself to find out what exactly might transpire in the battle."

Felicity rolled her eyes. "I don't hold any flak for fortune-tellers."

Falcon chuckled, which would seem like a hard thing for something with no cheeks and beak to be able to pull off, "Well, you might want to look out for this one, his fortunes seem like the kind that are scarcely wrong."

Felicity huffed and kept walking.

Next Morning:

People were excitedly whispering in the stadium. Block B's semifinals were about to begin. Felicity Comas versus Hiro Yūhi. Attack against Attack. Not a dull match up. The chess player had his hat tilted towards the right, and he was dressed in his usual red tank top and shorts. He grinned a star-struck smile when Felicity came on stage. "You're pretty good," He said, still smiling. "I used to support the Raging Bull's years ago, so I know all about you, Felicity Comas! But just so you know, I'm nothing like Kyoji. I won't burst in a second like that loser. You better watch your step!"

Felicity smiled slightly; this kid was almost as infectious as Valt, "Well, it'll be good to see you try," she smiled and took her position.

Hiro did the same. "Come on, Comas," he muttered, "Show me what you got!"

3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! Lycanthe and Falcon zoomed towards each other. At the last second, when Falcon's feathered blade came out for an Aerial Strike, the Bey was sent into the stadium. Felicity cursed, she hadn't realized the slight breeze could mess with her strategy! But whatever, she was alright! Falcon revved up for an Aura Launch, zipping forward to deal with the sandy-flesh colored Bey. The two Attack types collided with extreme force. Felicity gritted her teeth as she felt the power of Hiro's will smashing into her.

Shu, who was watching the battle with the Bey Club, gripped his pockets tighter. Even with the handicap of being unable to battle using all her resonance, Aura Launch was incredibly intense, but a lot of people had plowed through it. He couldn't do it, not at her full strength, when she could take the liberty to not hide her aura. But what if Lycanthe, a vastly superior barrage Attacker, had a stronger resonance, a better will than Felicity? It was ridiculous... she would win this.

Daigo's knuckles were becoming white as he clenched the barrier. It seemed like Felicity was going dangerously close to an explosion. It was already hotter, and she seemed to be glowing slightly brighter. Hiro seemed to have noted this since he looked up with a somewhat confused look on his face. Felicity was focused entirely on the win, and he somehow internally knew that the round would be over whether or not the move will hold. Hiro smirked. "I knew you'd probably go with some powerful head-on attack!" he declared loudly, "You really didn't want me to wait it out, where I'll have the advantage! So, you don't need to worry about not making me wait. I used Attack mode; now, Lycanthe, lose all mercy! Wolf Barrage!" Lycanthe's speed increased by a margin, and it looked like Falcon got knocked right out of the park.

Valt's mouth was hanging wide open. "What... just happened?" he asked numbly.

Rantaro looked completely frazzled. "No way she lost that easy!"

Xander just laughed. "She really never holds back, does she?"

Felicity narrowed her eyes, mouth turning into a smirk. "Falcon, Aerial Strike!" The feathered blade came out, and her Bey circled back into the stadium, its speed faster than before.

Hiro's face went slack, "Oh, come on! I nearly had you!" He whined.

Felicity smirked. "I hate to disappoint you. Now, Thunder Launch!" The Bey swung around the stadium, clicking distinctively as Falcon's metal extra blade hit the walls. The two beys, white and brown, clashed against each other with extreme intensity. Lightning crackled, and Felicity felt her hands heat up with flames of aura. A bey flew up into the stadium. A moment later, light shone on the said Bey, revealing Falcon! Another was in three pieces, the dark green and brown form of Lycanthe.

Felicity bent down, slowly picking up the pieces of Lycanthe for Hiro, who dropped to his knees. She put it back together and offered it to the kid. He hesitated, looking unsure of why Felicity was handing him the Bey. "It was a good battle. I haven't had one like that in ages," she explained, then tossed him the Bey. "I want another one like that. Train up and meet me in another tournament. Next time, don't lose as badly as you did now." She walked off, not even looking back at the kid. She nodded towards Daigo as they passed each other. "Buenaventura!"

Daigo nodded and walked up, taking his stance. The first round was over in a flash, Yugo won with ease. The second was more... interesting. Daigo seemed to freeze up, no one seemed to realize, but Doomsizor's demonic resonance swept through the stage like a wave. Felicity cringed, trying not to make the change too visible. A voice floated out, "There's no way you can win. Not like this." Felicity's eyes widened, Doomsizor? What the hell did it think it was doing? Urging Daigo to cheat?! What kind of avatar was it?

The cold voice was growing, becoming louder. Felicity had returned to the crowd, and she frantically started sweeping the group to figure out if anyone noticed the slightly twitching Daigo. She found herself caught in the hawk-like gaze of the single yellow eye of that Akiba person she had been introduced too. He was staring at her in a sort of fixed, steady look like he knew exactly what her friend was contemplating and precisely what Felicity was capable of. She shivered and looked away from him and back towards Daigo, who was staring at Yugo with a determined expression. Considering the demonic resonance still coursing through him, he had chosen to cheat.

3! 2! 1! Let it... rip! Daigo's launcher tilted up and caught the light, reflecting straight into Yugo's eyes. The wannabe samurai flinched, and since his arm wobbled, Yegdrion landed shakily. Felicity whistled, for by getting hit by a flash, that was a pretty off-balance. Daigo didn't hesitate, going straight for the kill. As Valt and the rest cheered obliviously, Shu exchanged a dark look with Felicity. She nodded, making a mental note to talk to Shu about it later. She tried not to shiver, she knew Doomsizor had a dark side to it, but don't bey avatars have an underlying sense of right and wrong? How could a BEY push its handler into demonic resonance? Not a special engineered one, just a regular bey? "Doomsizor," she muttered, "you've left us in a real crisis."

**Author's Note: So, what did you think? Was it good? I've got the next chapter already written, so it'll probably be out by this week. Reviews are appreciated!**


	14. The bey whisperer! (Reread for changes!)

Felicity paced outside of Shu's apartment block, "Come on... you were supposed to be here half an hour ago! Where are you?" she muttered to herself. As if on cue, Shu came out from inside the building, his white hair soaking wet as though he had just come from the shower, "Sorry I'm late, you caught me in training."

Felicity shrugged, "No problem, are we gonna talk about the Daigo problem?"

Shu looked at her, "You mean when he used his launcher to blind Yugo? That was weird, but... aren't you overstating it? How about we just go and convince him to confess to the officials?"

Felicity shook her head, "I'm not overstating it. You don't know how bad it is. I felt some demonic resonance radiating off him in that fight."

Shu looked at her blankly, "Demonic... resonance?"

Felicity nodded, "Right, you wouldn't know. Resonance is basically when you and your bey's avatar are in sync. Once you're totally in sync, the avatar can give its strength to its blader. And vice versa."

Shu nodded, it made sense on some level, of course Felicity could tell the bond between blader and bey. "I think I follow, kind of. But isn't resonance good?"

Felicity tilted her head in that quirky bird-like way, "Ordinary resonance; yes. But demonic resonance is different. Usually, beys can tell if what they are doing is wrong or right, so if their resonating blader suddenly starts acting odd; pushing it to do things that it believes are wrong then there are two possible outcomes. One, the bey rejects the blader if its resolve in its morals is strong enough. Or two, the bey's resolve is broken and it allows the blader to act in however manner it seems fit. Beys like their bladers a lot, apparently, so most of the time their resolve breaks."

Shu nodded, "I think I get it... you think Daigo pushed Doomsizor to cheat; that sounds wrong. He's a good guy, I know it."

Felicity looked skyward, where a lone falcon was circling the area, "You're right, sometimes it's the opposite. The bey will push the blader into doing anything for power." her voice shook and her eyes had a haunted look in them.

Shu looked at her warily, "That shouldn't be possible, right? I mean a bey's connection with its blader is what allows it to gain sentience. Why would it throw that away?"

Felicity shrugged, "Most beys treasure the bond because that type of thing is rare. Only a very special blader is able to resonate with their bey. The aura of a blader is like a key and the aura of a bey can be called a lock. Only a very specific combination will allow the door to open for the resonance to flow through. Each bey and blader has a unique aura, and most beys usually don't have enough aura to resonate at all. Remember how I told you my powers were created?"

Shu nodded, "An experiment in Mexico, right? You were going through an unhealthy amount of training, and were working on a new type of beyblade. When you used it in a battle, you collapsed because of the strain, when you recovered, your aura developed into a physical manifestation."

Fliss grinned, "Right on all accounts, so what happened was that intense training strengthened my aura to an unfathomable amount. It couldn't be contained by me, so it started sprouting off of me. That bey I was working on? It was specifically engineered to have a stronger aura, because its spirit was based on the hopes and dreams of its blader, me. At that point my aura was like multiple keys; the experiments and the training making me able to resonate with multiple beys on a higher scale. The bey was misunderstood; corrupted by the surroundings, if it had been given more time to adjust to its sentience, maybe some good would have come off it, but the thing was quite unsettled and used its only knowledge to grasp onto the only person it really knew."

Shu processed all this in his head, if a bey avatar that could communicate with only one person and knew all the dreams and hopes and wishes of that person, what would it do in its desperation to keep that person close? The bey was obviously powerful... then it clicked, "It tempted you with power, didn't it?" he asked.

Fliss's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she scuffed the ground with her boots, pouting, "It tried. But it didn't work."

Shu hummed, "So you think that's what's going on with Daigo?"

Fliss nodded, "I suppose, but Doomsizor really shouldn't have the aura to threaten Daigo's resolve, so... I'll just go ask it what the hell it's doing."

Shu looked at the sky, "Sounds like a plan. You don't want any lunch do you? 'Cause I was just about to start cooking."

Fliss tugged at her ponytail, "Sorry, I told Valt I would join him and possibly Daigo on the roof for practice. But before I go, there was this one other thing I wanted to ask you about."

Shu leaned back, "Shoot."

Fliss twiddled with her thumbs, "Y'know that weird dude with the purple-blue hair and a club on his cheek, Akiba Gorudo?"

Shu nodded, "Yeah, what about him?"

Fliss narrowed her eyes, "He was in the District Tournament, lost in the quarterfinals, against Orochi."

Shu raised his eyebrows, "So?"

Fliss shrugged, "It's impressive actually that he lost with a score of one to two. I didn't watch the match myself, so I didn't think about it. But that kid just moved to our school, and Falcon thinks he is some kind of bey whisperer. Like me, but slightly less intense powers."

Shu looked surprised, "That, is mildly interesting." he admitted.

Felicity took out her tablet and opened it, "It doesn't stop there. I watched the recording of his match when I found out he was in the Regionals, just in case. Turns out, he's a fortune-teller or something too. Take a look at this clip before the second match."

She held up her tablet; which now displayed a video of Orochi Ginba and Akiba Gorudo. DJ Blader was talking in the background, "What an outcome! Even Odax's Blast Beat couldn't cut through Aegis' iron defense!" Orochi was surveying Akiba with interest and mild awe. Akiba, however, was looking down at his pack of cards.

The referee looked between the two of them, "Are we ready to start the next match?"

Orochi gave the affirmative, but Akiba looked up from the cards and stared at Orochi dead in the eyes, "I'm not meant to win right now. I mean, I could but I won't. Nothing good comes from messing with Fate."

Orochi smirked at the kid, "What, you scared? Gonna chicken out?" he taunted.

The boy gave him a disdainful look, "No way, I don't run and hide. If you insist, let's get this over with." The two took their stances. 3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip! The beys ran out into the stadium. Akiba's bey was white, gold and bronze, nearly circular with a monster's face in the middle. Eight dagger-like contact points stuck out from the circle. As far as Shu could see, that thing probably had better defense than Wyvron, which was saying something. But the launch was off, the landing of Aegis was shaky and far from the center. Odax caught up easily and landed a savage barrage attack. It burst almost a few seconds underneath the assualt. Shu blinked as Fliss put the tablet down, "That kid lost on purpose." he noted.

Fliss nodded, "Exactly. He's a weird kid, alright. But a powerful opponent, possibly with a lot of insight on everything going on in our heads. Keep an eye on him, he may try to use that intel to throw us off our game."

Shu nodded, "Thanks for telling me."

Fliss grinned before catching sight of the time on her tablet, "Oh god, I'm late for the Beyclub meeting. I'll catch you later, alright?"

Shu waved, "Yeah, see you."

Felicity sprinted up to the school roof, with Falcon on her tail. When she got there, only Valt was sitting there, looking kind of upset. She walked closer, "Hey, Valt, where's everyone?"

Valt looked up, and smiled, as though he was relieved that she had shown up, "Oh... Honcho said he wanted to train by himself and Daigo... he didn't show up."

Felicity sighed, if Daigo wasn't here, where was he? But she made herself smile, "Then how about we battle, Valt?"

Valt looked up, "Seriously?!"

Felicity nodded, "Sure, why not?"

Valt looked down, "It's just... you barely ever battle us. You just watch."

Felicity tilted her head, breaking into a small smile, "If there's no one to watch, what's the point?"

Valt rubbed the back of his head, "Well... you're right. Let's battle!"

The two took their stances, Ghost sat on the metal fence; spectating. 3! 2! 1! Let I-SCREEEEEEEECH! Ghost's startling cry echoed through the rooftop. Felicity turned towards the red and white bird of prey mid-launch and Valt flinched, his launcher hand shaking. The monochromatic bey soared over the stadium and the azure bey smashed into the stadium shakily. Valt glared at the bird, "What was that for?!" he yelled, rubbing his ears. Felicity, however, looked towards where Ghost was looking. The dark green and grey-clad figure of Akiba Gorudo was heading towards them.

She poked the shorter boy in the back, "Check it out, Valt. Another participant of the Regionals."

Valt stared at Akiba, "What's he doing there?" then as an afterthought, he yelled out, "HEY! WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?"

The boy walked up until he was within a reasonable distance, "I heard there was a beyclub in this school. I was hoping to join, but I can't find it."

Valt gave him a toothy smile, "Well, ya came to the right place! We're members of the beyclub!"

The kid scanned the area, "Oookay... where is the club then?"

Valt reddened, "Uh... Honcho's preparing for the next round by himself. Daigo... he's probably visiting his brother in the hospital and lost track of time."

The purple-blue haired boy smiled, his exposed eye crinkling shut, "Well, in that case, can I still join?"

Valt nodded, "Yeah, sure! I'll ask everyone else when I see them at the tournament. What's your name anyway?"

Akiba nodded, "Akiba Gorudo. As we're here, how about a battle?"

Valt grinned, "Sure thing! This is my partner, Victory Valtryek!" he cried, holding out the bey.

Akiba whipped out his bey in response. It was nearly circular, with eight contact points sticking out that kind of resembled snakes, which were connected to the image of a silhouetted face with glowing red eyes. The bey was mostly gold and white, while the monster face and the snakes were bronze, "Meet my bey, Astral Aegis!"

Valt's eyes seemed to nearly pop out of his head, "Woah! That's awesome! Come on, let's battle!"

Felicity surveyed the boy critically, he seemed harmless, but Falcon's words said otherwise. The two took their positions. 3! 2! 1! Let it... RIP! The beys launched with absolute precision. Aegis landed on the center point. Not just near it, nearly on top of it. That kind of technique needed aim, and skill he didn't have. At least, he shouldn't have. His launch had been too airy, and a kid who could pull off a launch like that with such casualness should be famous by now. Valtryek lost the minute Aegis took the center. That thing was like a tank, it deflected the Rush Launch easily, barely even moving. Either this kid had planned this, or he was just that good. She would find out soon enough. Valtryek finally spun to a stop, and Valt slouched, "Aw man! I can't believe I lost so easily. You're really strong!"

Akiba smiled back, "Thanks. You're not bad yourself!"

Felicity steeped in between Valt and him, "Battle me next!" she demanded, fire burning in her green eyes. Akiba smiled, his grin was much brighter than Shu's ordinary smile, but dimmer than Valt's overzealous grin, "Sure. Sounds like fun."

The two took their stances. Felicity aimed for an Aerial Strike but made sure that in case it didn't work, she didn't go over the stadium. 3! 2! 1! Let it... RIP! The Aerial Strike missed. It was a close thing, but she miscalculated Aegis' speed. She smirked, ah, well, she had been hoping to use Aura Launch on Aegis and Akiba. "Now, Falcon!" she gave the signal, "Todo o nada! Aura Launch!" (all or nothing!) Falcon swung towards Aegis at incredible speeds. Akiba stared at her in curiosity, then with a flash of white aura, she was in the Aura Field. Akiba looked around the quietly tranquil space. It was like being in the center of a tornado. White emanated from the side which Felicity was in, gold from Akiba's. In the middle, the two colors clashed and mixed. Behind her, she could feel Falcon's presence. Behind Akiba, was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen. It was a monster with leathery skin dressed in a Greek chiton. It had the most hideous face she could imagine, it was covered in welts and scars, with gruesome fangs and drooling long strands of saliva, and this monstrous image was framed with hair that appeared to be made of snakes. With a jolt, she realized that was a shield she was staring at, not the face of a monster. The face was higher up, hidden under a war helmet. She repressed an urge to shiver, what a terrifying spirit. Akiba was looking around the place with mild interest, so Felicity blurted out the first thing she could think about, "So, can you talk to beys?"

Akiba looked mildly impressed she had deduced that, "Sometimes, yes," he admitted, "They whisper secrets to me. Some try to threaten me, they give away a lot. I use the information to mess with them, throw them off their game. I don't tell anyone, maybe they'll send me too the loony bin."

Felicity smiled, "That makes sense. How'd you start talking to beys?"

Akiba shrugged, "I just happened. They don't talk all that much, so I don't really care. They seem to talk a lot more with you. I bet there's a tragic story behind it."

Felicity's smile fell, "I guess they do talk to more, don't they? There's quite a story behind it too. Anyways, it was nice to meet you, Akiba Gorudo."

Akiba chuckled lightly, "I'll say the same to you. Felicity Comas."

The aura field faded away as Aegis' gold aura overtook Falcon's white. They returned to the real world, where Falcon was lying in pieces. Felicity cursed in Spanish; she should've gone for her Talon Strike. Then this would've been avoided, but then she wouldn't have gotten Akiba to fess up. So... silver linings she guessed. She picked up Falcon's pieces and put it back together, before turning to Valt, "There isn't any point in practicing if no one is here. I'll see you around." then she did an about turn and high-tailed it outta there.

It was weird, running into another bey whisperer, Felicity had to admit. Maybe that was why she ran away. It was too much of a coincidence that that guy was in Beigoma at this exact moment, right? Something fishy was probably going on, but she couldn't quite sniff it out. The next day of the tournament was okay. She was up first, fighting against some kid called Chōza or something. He had a Sagittarian, a rather rare collector's item for rich beyblade enthusiasts but in terms of defense, it just didn't cut it. She had to use a Talon Strike to defeat him, which was commendable, but he was still on the weak side. Valt and Rantaro's match, however, was kind of exciting. Valt got the first point, just as Felicity knew he would. Valtryek's aura rippled fiercely through the stadium at its victory, issuing a challenge to the other powerful bladers. Akiba definitely sense it, as he leaned forward through the barrier, his eyes gleaming with excitement. Zac probably could too, because his resonance immediately flared up considerably. Daigo had been avoiding them all day, Shu had been trying to talk to him privately, but it was kind of hard to for the second most powerful blader in Japan to sneak up anywhere, considering how many fans would stop him in the streets to get his autograph. Rantaro wasn't going down without a fight and he evened it out with another point. Valt was just slightly too powerful for him, ending the fight with a burst finish. Wakiya and Hoji's battle was more interesting. Hoji set up a launch that was painfully familiar, "I can't believe it!" she muttered.

Toko and Nika turned to look at her, "Huh? Whatcha mean?"

Shu looked at the stadium with narrowed eyes, "She's talking about Hoji's launch style, it's extremely similar to the stance Fliss uses for the Aerial Strike."

Xander blinked curiously, "That move she uses to burst beys in midair? He's trying to replicate it?"

Felicity shook her head, "That's not it. It's too unpredictable to try to foresee the effects of gravity. I think he's planning on striking when Wyvron has landed." 3! 2! 1! Let it... rip! The two friends launched, the beys spinning towards each other. Wakiya's eyes opened in a brief moment of panic, just before Wyvron burst through Horusood. There was a momentary shocked silence before DJ Blader yelled out, "Incredible! Not even Felicity Comas could've done it faster!" and applause rang out. Hoji slumped, before Wakiya grabbed his shoulder. The two talked but the group was too far away to hear what was being said. Felicity decided it was probably good, because Hoji's dampened fighting spirit flared up at Wakiya's words. She felt Falcon's aura surge in approval. No that was taken care of, she could deal with Daigo. Finally.


	15. A New Challenge! The Akabane Residence!

**I'm sorry for the wait. To apologize, here, have a double update!**

**Special thanks to IdolGirlGold, one of the only beta readers for the Beyblade Burst Franchise. Thank you so much 3**

**I'm also putting this up on AO3 cause why not?**

**Lastly, stay home. Stay safe. The danger is real, and should be taken seriously.**

* * *

Felicity was hallucinating. She had to be. There was no way she hadn't been emailed an invitation to the International Islander Battle Royale. She'd never gotten one before, like, ever. She didn't have the ranking to participate when she was in the Raging Bulls, so to get one now was... SCREEEECH! She rudely shaken out of her shock by Ghost, who was looking at her curiously. She rubbed her ears as she scowled at the bird when Falcon spoke into her ear, "So... will you participate?"

Felicity looked down at the actual bey, "Are you crazy?! Of course! It's a team competition, right? I've got a team."

"This is incredibly short notice, though."

"We'll make it work."

"Aren't you going to deal with Daigo first?"

Felicity snapped her fingers, "Right, I'll work on that, first. Tell the others about the overseas Beyblade competition second."

"You're not really good at prioritizing, are you?"

Felicity grinned toothily, "You should know this by now. Pipe down now, okay? People are staring."

She trotted briskly down the streets to get to school. She had been busy working on a stable balance on her Wing Launcher after school, she must've lost track of time, because when she got to the roof, the other four were already in battle. Well, Daigo was sitting out, but still. "I've beaten you four times already!" Valt taunted Rantaro.

"Guys, can I get a battle now?" Akiba begged.

Felicity jogged towards them, "Hey guys, guess what?"

Everyone's attention switched to her, "I don't know, what?" Valt said.

Felicity smiled brighter than she had in quite a while, "Take a look!" she cried, holding her tablet in front of her. Everyone leaned in to take a look.

"What's the IIBR?" Rantaro finally asked

Felicity leaned back, "It's this huge biennial team-based Battle Royale. Each time, it's located on a different island. This time, it's in the Canary Islands! Invitations are highly coveted, only a couple hundred people receive them. Each invitation allows three people, which means three of us are going to Spain!"

Akiba, Rantaro and Valt's eyes nearly bugged out of their heads, even Daigo looked interested, "So which one of us is going?" Valt asked.

Felicity nodded, "I thought we should battle for it, following the rules of the competition, 'kay?"

Daigo shook his head, "I'm not in the mood, for this."

He walked away, everyone staring after him. Felicity nodded as she watched him go, eyes narrowed then turned her attention to the others, "So... who here has a passport? Only they can enter, ya know."

The trio exchanged guilty looks, "Agh... I don't!" Valt groaned, "How could this happen to me!"

"Me neither!" Rantaro wept, "I'm going to miss a paid vacation and a Beyblade competition that only happens once every two years, I can't believe it!"

Akiba smiled, his one exposed eye closed, "I have a passport! The flight is in two days, right? Lucky me!"

The other two continued crying and preparing for Valt's next tournament, while Akiba ran home to pack. Felicity shrugged and walked away to locate Daigo. She found him eventually, talking to Shu. Sobbing was more like it. Doomsizor wasn't talking much, but she could feel he wasn't happy. Shu caught her gaze and shook his head slightly, getting up silently and walking towards her. Felicity glared at him and stage-whispered, "What did you say to him? I need to go talk to him, maybe get him to calm down."

Shu shook his head, "He needs some time to himself to sort things out, okay? He'll be fine soon."

Felicity sighed and looked over at her dark-haired friend, "Are you sure?"

Shu rested his hand on her shoulder, "Trust me. I know people like you know a bey."

Felicity nodded, "Thanks, Shu. I wanted to ask you something..."

"Shoot." he replied.

Felicity fiddled with a stray strand of her hair, "There's this team competition in the Canary Islands, and it's kind of a huge deal. No one in the Bey club has a passport except me and Akiba and Daigo. But Daigo isn't in the mood for it, and we need three people to enter. Would you like to come along?"

Shu leaned forward on the railing, "Tough question. Daigo really should get to go, but if he doesn't snap out of it in time to get ready, sure, I'd love to."

Felicity threw her arms round him, "ThankyouThankyouThankyou! Um... I mean...Thanks!" as she quickly let go of Shu, her blood rushing to her cheeks. Shu smiled back, rubbing the back of his head, "No problem. I'm glad to do it."

So here Felicity was, sitting in class, doing absolutely nothing, trying to finish her cup of coffee before the teacher came in when Valt, Akiba and Rantaro barreled straight through the door. "Felicity! Thank goodness we found you! Daigo... He left the club... you gotta do something!" Valt choked out, nearly at tears.

"I don't get it! Why would such a brilliant blader just quit?" Akiba asked, utterly bewildered.

"WAIT, WHAT?" Felicity finally snapped, cutting through their ramblings. Shu appeared right behind the group, causing her to switch her attention to him, "And why're you so conveniently here?"

Shu shrugged, "I needed to tell them about Daigo, so I just followed the noise."

Felicity nodded, "Excelente punto."

Valt looked back at Shu, "What did you want?"

Shu looked furtively over his shoulder, "Let's go somewhere where people won't hear us." they followed him to the roof, where he turned towards them, looked all four of them in the eye and blandly stated, "Daigo cheated in the second round."

Rantaro glared at Shu, "There's no way Daigo would ever cheat!"

Akiba shook his head, "He's telling the truth, I suspected something in that match, but there was no evidence."

Valt had started sniffling by now, "But, why? Why would he? It's not like him!"

Shu nodded, "You're right. But he admitted it to me yesterday."

Tears had begun to leak from Valt, "That idiot," he cried, "I gotta go beat some sense into that idiot!"

He got up and ran blindly forward, almost immediately slamming into the rooftop net barrier. Akiba started to move forward to help him up, but Rantarou got there first. Shu looked at Valt with utmost seriousness, "You need to understand, Valt, that Daigo's the one who's suffering the most."

Akiba nodded grimly, "We might be able to nudge his destiny a little towards the right direction but, in the end, it's up to Daigo to make the right call."

Felicity rested a hand on his shoulder, "No worries, Valt! Daigo won't be knocked out by something so simple, he'll come back up, stronger than ever!"

Valt nodded and tried to grin but his eyes remained downcast. That look would haunt Felicity almost as much as Boa's bitterly resentful yet admiring face and Kajuri's euphoric grin. The day passed by quick as a flash and she didn't even bother going home for a pit stop first, she went straight to the Shakadera dojo. When she rapped on the door, Xander opened it. Upon seeing her, his usual grin appeared, but less intense than she remembered it, he seemed incredibly sombre for once. "Hey, Felicity!" he smirked, "Heard you're going to the Islander Royale!"

"How'd you know that?" Felicity said

Xander waved his hands, "Daigo came by earlier, he mentioned Yugo could have his spot if he wanted it."

Felicity's mind came back on track, "Right. Daigo, is he here?" Xander shook his head, "¡Está bien! I gotta go, maybe it's not too late!"

Felicity dashed back down to the train station, took a tense train-ride back and then made a bee-line to one of Daigo's favorite spots, a stadium at the park. Sure enough, he was there. Just sitting there, looking at his bey. She crept closer, subconsciously switching to AuraVision. Black tendrils wrapped around him, encasing him, tying him to that thing in his hands. "¡Mierda! You have it bad." she noted, which caused Daigo to flip out

"Where the hell did you come from?!" Daigo snapped

Felicity shrugged vaguely, "Spain...?"

Daigo's lips tilted upward slightly, "Um, no, that's not what I meant. Just... what're you doing here."

Felicity took out Falcon and held it out to Daigo, "I want one last fight."

Daigo looked at the bey, who was practically radiating at getting a one-on-one with Doomsizor, in shock. Impulsively, he nodded, before wondering why on earth he even agreed. Felicity stalked over to the other side of the stadium, and took up her stance. Daigo experimentally changed his launching angle a little to see Fliss's reaction, but she remained unmoving, so she wasn't going to lead out with something like an Aerial Strike or a Talon Strike. He sighed and set himself up for a Quake Launch. 3! 2! 1! Let it... rip! Two perfect Launches, going quickly towards the center for first contact. Fliss put out her hand, "Falcon! Aura Launch, let's go!" Falcon spun faster; its wildly resonating aura now visible in white flames. The two collided spectacularly, and created a flash so bright that Daigo covered his eyes. When he opened them again, he was floating in a void with black and white circulating them. Fliss smiled at him, "Now, we're gonna solve your problem."

Daigo figeted nervously, "Problem? What problem? I don't have a problem."

Fliss raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Have you looked at yourself?" Daigo turned to look at his arms and legs and choked on some spittle. His arms were bound together by black misty threads. The more he tried wave away the mist, the more they solidified and weighed him down. Fliss watched him with polite nervousness, until he sank to the ground in exhaustion. "I had a theory that might work, if you're willing to give it a shot." she said conversationally.

"I'll try anything," Daigo said, "What is this stuff?"

"Demonic resonance," Fliss explained, "It's a bey's will to win at any cost. It tends to manipulate its wielder to do the same. The strings are its resonance feeding on you. It's more of a one-way relationship, than any ordinary two-way bond built by bey and blader."

"How do I get rid of it?"

"It's just a theory, but I think smashing your bey should do the trick."

"WHAT?!" Daigo choked out, "That's what it's gonna take?"

Fliss nodded, "I don't know much about this Daigo, but Bey trainers seem to think of Demonic Resonance in beys being like a disease or something. Once it's infected, it won't ever be the same."

"So, I just give up bey-blading?" Daigo asked, despondently, "Cause, I was planning to do that before you gave me hope."

Fliss shook her head, "Come on, Daigo, I'm not that big of a jerk. I still want you by my side for the Islander Royale."

Daigo smiled coldly, "I'm touched, but how do I do that without a bey?"

Fliss laughed, "My granddad's got Bey Trainer friends everywhere. That includes Japan. I might be able to get to use one of their workshops. Hold on a sec and let me check." She turned away, fished out her phone from her pockets, dialed a number and put the phone to her ear. A couple seconds later she turned back and flashed him a thumbs-up, "It's been worked out. My old mentor still lives here, and he's willing to lend us a hand."

Daigo nodded, "Cool, where is it?"

Fliss grinned sheepishly, "Two towns away, around the base of the mountain where the Shakadera dojo is built. Are you willing to have a sleepover?"

Daigo nodded hesitantly, "I'll go ask my mom and pack my stuff."

Fliss grinned toothily, "See ya at the train station in one hour! That's the second last train to where we need to go, so be quick!"

Daigo blinked at her in confusion as she took off towards her house, before shaking himself out of it and rushing towards his apartment, which conveniently, was on the same floor's as Shu's apartment. Shu grinned when he saw Daigo's face, Fliss was good at speeding things up. Daigo let himself into his apartment and found his mother in the kitchen, "Hi, mom." he greeted.

His mother smiled, "Hey, sweetie, how was school?"

Daigo shrugged, "It was School. I wanted to ask you something..."

"Ask away, honey!"

"Alright then, a kid from my Beyblade club invited me for a sleepover. I was wondering if..."

"Sure, sweetie! Look at you making friends already!" she smiled as she pinched his cheeks.

"Mom!" Daigo protested, flustered

"Ah, yes, you'll need to go pack, go on. Who's the friend?"

Daigo paused, he wasn't telling her that Felicity was taking him two towns away for an emergency beyblade making spree, nor was he telling her that said friend was a girl, so who could he trust enough... "Shu Kurenai!" he blurted out.

His mother smiled her megawatt smile, "Alrighty then, pack up and go, you don't wanna be late!"

Daigo nodded and charged into his room. He opened his rucksack and started shoving sweaters inside. He put his laptop, Doomsizor and all his launching equipment in as well. He was out of the door in a matter of minutes. Then he backtracked to grab his toothbrush, hairbrush, spare bandannas, first-aid kit and mosquito repellant. He charged out of his apartment as hard as he could, only to slam into someone else, "Where are you going in such a rush?" a teasing voice asked.

Daigo rubbed his hair out of his eyes and looked up to see Shu, "Oh, hey, Shu. Fliss, she... uh... is taking me to her mentor's workshop. Said she was gonna make a bey for me. To replace Doomsizor."

Shu nodded in understanding, "This is kind of short notice, did your parents allow?"

Daigo blushed slightly, "No, so do me a favor and if she ever asks if I had a sleepover with you, then say yes."

Shu blinked, "Err... okay?"

Daigo smiled in gratitude, "Thanks, bye!" then he shot down the stairs out of the building and down to the train station in record time. Fliss was waiting for him, holding two tickets in her hand and the bag slung casually over her shoulder bulging like it was about to burst. They waited in awkward silence until the train slid in and then jumped inside, placing their luggage down.

In a couple hours, they were in a station not too far away from the one that led to the Shakadera dojo. They could practically see the mountain from there. Fliss led them out of town and through the woods, stopping several times to check her map or her compass. But eventually, she managed to bring them to a farm out in the middle of nowhere. Daigo blinked in confusion as he looked at the huge yard, where a couple metal statues had been built. A child around Toko and Nika's age was hauling bundles of wood. He had dark-red hair tied back and wore a white shirt and brown pants held up by suspenders. "¡Hola, Aiger! Long time, no see!" Felicity called out, waving slightly at the boy.

The kid turned around and skipped over, "Ane-chan!" he cried, "I thought you said you'd come to my birthday!"

Felicity smiled, "Sorry, Aiger. I forgot. I was busy winning tournaments."

The kid pouted slightly, before smiling, "Did you bring Ghost? Where is she?" he said looking around. Felicity whistled shrilly, alerting Ghost, who was sitting on a tree. She swooped over and settled on Felicity's shoulder. Felicity lowered herself down, so Aiger could pet the bird of prey, "So... cool!" he squealed.

Felicity smiled, her amusement apparent in her eyes, "So, Aiger, is your father here?"

Aiger nodded, "He's in his workshop, said he's making a present for me."

Felicity got up, "Daigo and I'll help you with the wood, alright?"

Aiger nodded, "That's fine by me."

Daigo picked up four of the tiny bundles of wood, which were obviously made for a seven-year-old, and carried them in with ease, leaving Felicity to bring in the other two bundles.

Aiger opened the door for him, "Come on!" he said and led them into the house.


	16. Begin! Battle Royale Free-For-All!

**Yes, I always thought Felicity had to have some connection to the Akabane family, since Taiga was Raul's apprentice. In my headcanon, Raul has absolutely no idea of how to raise a little child and basically lets her run wild to some extent. Then Taiga comes along, and finally puts an end to the insanity. Mostly by cutting off her coffee supply and stopping her from running around with raw meat to attract birds of prey. That, and you need a mentorship with a BeyTrainer who isn't related to you if you want to be a rank higher than 4. So, Taiga it was.**

* * *

They got to the stadium in time to see Valt win. They got there in time for Felicity to win, as well. It was close though. Valt was now freaking out over the awesome Dash Deathsizor Fliss had made for him, "It's so awesome! Can I have something that awesome? Please?!" He whined.

Daigo sweat dropped, "No. I don't think so. Why are you asking me anyway?"

Valt paused, then immediately turned to Felicity, who was brushing Ghost's feathers. Felicity seemed to sense his plea, since she immediately replied, "No."

"Why not?!" Valt cried

Felicity played with the cuff of her sleeves, "Cause Valtryek is still in good condition?" She offered.

Valt looked downcast but he let it drop. He had to, really, since at that moment this blond guy walked up. He had on a mask that covered only a small portion of his face, so it was obvious of the guy's real identity.

Felicity froze at the hauntingly familiar mask. She had worn something similar once, in the Snakepit. It was a bad memory. But why was Zac wearing it? Was he part of the Snakepit? But the Snakepit never so flippantly flaunted their masks. Something was up. The guy walked up to her, "Hello, majestically soaring bird of prey, I am here to battle you!"

All her defences went up, "Why?" She asked coldly.

The others exchanged uneasy glances until Zack finally replied, "I would like to fight one so powerful as yourself, to test your burning spirit!"

Felicity rolled her eyes, yeah that sounded like Zac alright. Her eyes darted around as she thought; Zillion Zeutron was the ultimate defence type. She would be an idiot to try an win head on. That being said, in an endurance match, she's win, since Zillion was also one of the heaviest beys in existence. That left her only one option. It was a move she had seen being used many times by one street performing blader, an Ackermann something or the other. She had worked on the theory of it but theory and reality was different. She whipped out her launcher and took a stance for an ordinary launch. Zac looked at her, smiling, reminding her uncannily of Boa whenever he got revved up against an opponent. She shook herself into the present and launched alongside him. She landed on the side of the stadium walls. She watched with bated breath as Falcon teetered over the edge before slowly pushing itself away, only relaxing when it was out of the way of falling. She nearly almost fell the next time, but her avatar was trying its level best to stay afloat. The bey club watched in suspense as Falcon spun around on the wall, carefully managing to avoid falling down. It was only thanks to the incredible resonance between the two that they managed to win the next round. Otherwise, they would've lost in the first five seconds. Just a Zeutron had started losing momentum, spinning to a stop, Falcon and Felicity lost concentration and the bey fell backwards, on to the cold floor. The two turned towards Shu, who had uncharacteristically decided to referee the match. "Who won?!"

He frowned, fingers on his chin, "Za-I mean, the Masked Blader." He amended, finally

Zac grinned as he picked up Zeutron, "Do not worry, most beautiful of falcons! Your strategy was incredible! If you were to perhaps hone it a little, I bet you might be able to beat even me! Your spirit is burning with a fire that nothing will extinguish!"

Felicity rolled her eyes, "You're ridiculous, you know that? The disguise is awful and everyone can see through it."

Zac turned around to find himself faced with a bunch of girls with heart eyes. He smiled, "Hello, adoring fans! I have a confession to make! I'm not some dashing anonymous blader! I am, in fact… Zac the sunrise!" He threw off his awful mask and took a bow as the girls oohed and ahed. Zac winked at Felicity, "And we will have a rematch, Cazadora Princessa!" Felicity blushed slightly and moved aside as he walked away, feeling the glare of quite a few fangirls. They retreated around him as Zac walked away. Leaving Fliss alone with the mask, with the bey club behind her. She vehemently stepped on the mask, crushing it underfoot, before turning to the others with a steely glint in her jade eyes, "Come on. We should get ready for our first international debut!"

Akiba grinned, "Then what're we waiting for?" He pulled out a card from his pouch, "Lucky Libra. I got a good feeling about tomorrow."

Daigo laughed, "Deathsizor is gonna take the world by storm, and I don't need tarot cards to tell me that!"

The next day, the trio got off a plane in the Canary Islands, buzzing with excitement. Daigo was hauling a huge backpack and suitcase, and so was Akiba. Felicity had on a small suitcase and no backpack. She had left Ghost with Shu since pets were forbidden. Felicity took a deep breath of the ocean air and sighed in contentment, Akiba bounded off while Daigo strolled behind them all in a more relaxed manner. They were immediately body slammed by a blur of turquoise and dark tan. Or more specifically, Felicity was body slammed. She found herself in an intense hug with another girl. The two boys stared in bemusement as Felicity glared at the girl. She had light turquoise hair, and slashed around her eyes. Her T-shirt had long sleeves with poofy designs. She had shorts on that barely came close to her knees and two strips of jagged Jean were hanging off her belt. Her eyes were a dark purple and they sparkled mischievously as she stood up. Felicity brushed her jacket off and turned towards the girl, "Hõla, Kiki." She said reluctantly.

Akiba looked at Kiki with an interested gaze, "Something tells me that you'll be fun to battle."

Kiki laughed hysterically, "Well, duh! I'm Kiki Puragris! The fifth most powerful blader in Spain!"

Daigo blinked, "Wow. Seriously?!"

Felicity nodded, "Yeah, she's really strong. I barely managed to keep my fourth position spot last time. Where's Ferdinand, Kiki? If you're participating that means so is he."

Akiba looked at her, "Who?"

Kiki smiled toothily, "My twin brother. He's way more powerful than me, at second best in Spain! He'll be back soon, went to check us in."

Felicity nodded, "Cool. Hope you've improved, cause Falcon and I won't hold back."

Kiki huffed, "As if! Kronos will completely destroy you! You'll be the one we should go easy on!"

Felicity smiled slightly, showing off her fang, "I'll hold you to that. Come on you guys, we should check in."

They walked into the lobby and checked themselves in, getting their maps and key cards and tournament rule book. They got into an elevator when a guy with a dark tan, and Kiki's magenta eyes, with his hair pulled back into a ponytail and his lower face hidden by a dark blue mask entered the elevator as well. "That's Ferdinand Puragris." Felicity whispered lowly. "Let's go talk to him."

She waved at him, "¡Hõla, Ferdinand! ¿Como estás?" She asked he looked at her and his eyes crinkled into a smile as he made an o with his fingers and stamped down on them then pointed at her before making a few more elaborate hand signs.

Daigo blinked uncertainly Felicity kicked him lightly, "Don't be rude." She hissed, "Ferdinand is mute." Then she continued to the boy, "Yeah, buddy, I missed you too. You finally managed to grow out your hair!"

Daigo gulped and nodded, noticing Akiba was paying rapt attention to the nonverbal conversation, "You know sign language?" He asked

Akiba nodded, "Yeah, my elder sister is deaf, so I picked it up quick."

"So… what's he saying?"

Akiba shrugged, "Something about how different Felicity looks from the meet up last year and how he can't wait to see how much better she is."

Felicity brightened up as Ferdinand continued signing, "Wait, she's actually coming?! For the competition?"

Akiba continued translating, "He also says that someone nicknamed Top Girl has come."

Felicity turned to them, "Alexia Stuart is the second most powerful blader in Spain, possibly the third in the world!" She explained, "I only see her during the Torneo de Los Ultimó Seis! Wonder what she's doing here now?"

Akiba looked thoughtful, "Maybe she was invited for one of those exhibition matches?"

Ferdinand made a sign that looked like it meant 'You're right'

Daigo grinned, "The matches start tomorrow, right?" He asked

Ferdinand nodded and made some signs which Felicity translated as, "Yeah. One round each day with an exhibition match to end each day."

"So, we can do anything we want to on the resort today, right?" He asked. Realisation dawned on the others faces as the elevator slid to a stop at their floor. The three looked around the three bedroom suite. Akiba jumped on to one of the beds in the bedrooms, "It's so soft!" He squealed

Felicity inspected the BeyCrafter Series IX Pro Flash Edition that was set up on the work top, "This is some high quality stuff." She observed.

Daigo looked out of the window, to see the perfect view of the sea and the stadium, before spotting something even better, "Is that a pool?!" He asked suddenly, leaning so far out to get a closer look that Felicity worriedly grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Yeah, why do you look so surprised?" Felicity asked

Daigo blinked, "I've never been to a proper pool before."

Felicity looked confused, "Man! I can't imagine how bad that would suck! I had a lake behind my house, about the size of half a football field. I don't think I could have lived without that lake."

Akiba grinned through the doorway as he remained stretched out on his bed, "Technically, that's not a real pool. So you haven't spent much time in a real pool either!"

Felicity huffed, "Not true, we had a pool in the Raging Bulls, I would stay up half the night, doing laps around that thing!"

Akiba raised his hands, his single eye turning upwards in a smile, as he shuffled in his cards, "Whatever, you guys want to race to the pool? A Nepstrius means a good time for a swim!" He pulled out a card with a picture of the bey.

Daigo grinned and grabbed his bag, "Eat my dust!" And ran into his room to change into his swimsuit. When he came out, Felicity was coming out of her room, dressed in a black and white swimsuit with the Raging Bulls logo on it, the two glared at each other, and dashed outside into the stairwell, tripping each other over as they raced to the pool. As soon as it came into view, a lifeguard blew a whistle at them, "NO RUNNING!" He bellowed and Felicity and Daigo slowed to a speed-walk. Felicity got there first and she jumped on a small diving board, let out a whoop and was about to cannonball in when a smug voice called, "Hey, where were you guys? I got down here ages ago!" The two spun around to see Akiba lounging on the side and they both anime fell.

Except Felicity was on a diving board and fell straight into the pool. She resurfaced after a few seconds of floundering, "How the hell did you beat me?!" She asked

Akiba smirked, "I have my ways. Knave of Spades and Nike combined ensured my victory."

Felicity scowled, "You know as well as I do that that fortune telling stuff is total bullshit."

Akiba lazily sank himself into the pool, "Only half the time." He smirked.

* * *

The three chilled at the pool for some time before heading to a nearby juice bar to get piña coladas. A couple kids looked up when they walked over and started whispering in different languages, "Hey, isn't that the Japanese team?"

"Oh shit, they have Felicity Comas on their side?"

"Man, we're screwed."

"I heard the guy with purple hair can hear our thoughts!"

"I saw him predict the future!"

"Black haired skull boy is SO creepy!"

"Where is her bird? Wasn't it, like, her lucky charm?"

"Aegis is nearly as terrifying as Athena!"

"Well, I think he's cute!"

* * *

Felicity took the whispers in her stride, but Daigo and Akiba started getting uneasy with all the attention, then, a young girl with dark red hair walked up to her, "¡Um hola! Soy Celia. Me preguntaba si ... ¿podrías darme un autógrafo? ¡Eres mi heroe!" (Um… Hi! I'm Celia. I was wondering if… you could give me an autograph? You're my hero!)

Felicity smiled and pulled out a pen, eagerly scribbling out her loopy signature on her shirt, punctuating it with a doodle of a feather. "¡Sigue soñando, chico!" She said as she patted the girl's hair, the girls eyes grew wide as she backed away into the crowd, looking blissful as a couple kids looked at her with envy.

Daigo could've sworn she had mumbled, "¡Nunca más volveré a lavar esta camisa!" (I will never wash this shirt again!) the other kids turned back towards them, their eyes flashing greedily, but Felicity just pulled up her hoodie, grabbed her teammates' wrists and ran for their suite. When they came inside, her BeyTab's ringtone could be easily heard echoing through the place. Felicity grabbed it and looked at the Caller ID, "It's Valt!" She whispered, before accepting. She found Toko and Nika looking at the screen curiously. Their faces lit up when the feedback on Felicity's end caught up. "Guys! Have you landed? We've been waiting for ages… hey, Valt get over here, Felicity actually picked up for once!" Nika called out excitedly.

Valt slid into view, followed by the rest of the bey club, including Shu… Wakiya and a familiar sideways baseball cap wearing person which could only be Hiro Yuhi. "Took you guys long enough to pick up!" He cheered, "What's up?"

Felicity ushered Daigo and Akiba into frame, "Nothing much. Tournament starts tomorrow so we decided to check out the pool. Met old friends, that sort of stuff. What's with all the new faces?"

Rantaro glared at her, "Well, we found out just a soon as you guys left for your flight that the National Team Championships were in a few days so we got Shu to help us and Wakiya joined in and-"

"I wasn't gonna let you overtake me, could I?" Hiro jumped in, "So, I heard that the Bey club needed members and decided to leave the chess club in favour of the bey club." He explained.

Daigo groaned, "The Team Nationals are at the same time?!" He looked accusingly at Felicity, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Felicity looked bewildered, "You guys have a National Team Championship? Don't high-level bey clubs sponsor those to see which amateur bladers are worth paying attention to whenever they feel like scouting someone out?"

Akiba looked at her, "Japan doesn't do that. Looks like you don't know everything after all!"

Felicity slumped, "Blame it on Falcon!"

"Anyways… so everything's going good here, you don't have to worry. We'll watch the tournament opening live tomorrow!" Shu said.

"Did Valt mess up the opening ceremony?" Daigo asked, "He was supposed to take the Oath, right?"

"Yeah, don't worry, I improvised!" Valt cheered, "How's your opening ceremony gonna go?"

Felicity nodded, "The Ultimo Seis will give the opening speech. Wish us luck!"


	17. The Ultimo Seis! A Shadow from the Past!

Felicity strutted out into the stadium, swarmed by fans. She grinned toothily at some of them and waved excitably back as she shook hands with some of the squealing fans, "ESPAÑA NÚMERO UNO!" She called out as she walked past. Daigo and Akiba followed awkwardly behind her, smiling politely at some of the kids. Akiba was playfully flirting with a group of girls, having them pick out cards with the images of Venus, and Cupid, grinning as they fangirled over him. Daigo sighed and dragged him through the crowd where Felicity was standing, talking animatedly to the twins from yesterday, and a blond teen with a can't be bothered attitude and a yellow tank top and brown pants standing at the side. An excitable boy was talking to him non-stop. She waved the two over when she saw them heading towards the group, "Hey, guys! I want you to meet the rest of Ultimo Seis- sans Alexia."

The blond just looked at them blandly and lazily meandered away without a word. The twins grinned at them, well, Ferdinand eye smiled, but whatever. Kiki rubbed the back of her neck as she laughed nervously, "I'm so sorry about Free, he's not really one for talking to anyone, the only reason he puts up with us is because BC Sol has us as their star players, so he respects us."

Akiba glanced back, "Free, as in… Free De la Hoya?! The second best in Spain?"

The perky boy spoke up, "And tied with Kurtz Baratier for BEST in THE WORLD!"

Daigo blinked, "Shouldn't the one who beat him in the Ultimate Six tournament be above him?"

Ferdinand signed something, felicity translated it to; 'Not true, Alexia's bey Athena was made for the one purpose of defeating Fafnir. She was with the Russian team for a while, and they hired an entire company of BeyTrainers to get her a bey that could counter Fafnir's every ace. Just because it could defeat Fafnir doesn't mean it's better than every other bey blade.'

Akiba blinked, "So, what rank is she internationally?"

Perky boy spoke up, "Twenty ninth!"

Daigo and Akiba both face planted. "The top blader in Spain ranks lower than the second best?!" The dark skinned boy spoke up.

Felicity shrugged, "Alexia lives with her own rules."

Speakers sounded, "Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen! This is Señor Hanami, streaming live from the Canary Islands! The sun is shining, the waves are brutal and the stadium is packed, so let's kick off the Beyblade Islander Battle Royale!"

The group exchanged looks them charged off to the stadium.

Shu sat down into a recliner, blanket wrapped around him. Valt had decided on a sleepover to watch the opening of the Islander Battle Royale, but Wakiya had shot down the idea since he couldn't survive having to watch the whole live stream on Valt's tiny TV. His solution? Have the whole party at his mansion, where they could have a much bigger screen in his home theatre and a seemingly infinite amount of snacks. Hiro was easily fitting into the team dynamic and was letting Hoji bounce ideas off of him about his long-winder launch stances. Wakiya, Rantaro and Valt were in a loud argument with each other– something about chocolate popcorn and butter popcorn shouldn't be mixed. The sponsorships finally stopped playing and everyone immediately settled down as the camera zoomed over a large crowd and focused on to the stage, where five kids were standing. A short fidgeting boy stood on one end, after him a turquoise haired girl with magenta eyes, grinned exuberantly at the crowd, Felicity stood after her, her brown hair tied up in a ponytail, jade eyes glinting in the light, a turquoise haired boy stood beside her, with a mask covering his face, he was the one next to a blond haired boy with a red ahoge that could only belong to the most powerful blader in the world; Free de la Hoya. Señor Hanami fidgeted in silence for a while before blurting out, "So, where is Spain's Beyblade Princessa?"

The turquoise haired boy made some signs with his hands, a translator quickly taking over the mic, "She'll be here in about… ten minutes."

"Why're you so certain, Ferdinand?" Señor Hanami asked

Ferdinand shrugged and signed some more, "Alexia is a troll. She's late to these types of things just to mess with us."

Señor Hanami faceplanted, "SHES BEEN LATE SINCE THE START OF HER BLADING CAREER BECAUSE OF THAT!?" He screamed when he picked himself up.

All five elite bladers nodded awkwardly, but before the stunned silence could drag on, an auburn blur cart-wheeled onstage. The blur jumped up to reveal a girl in her late teens, on the short side, with a shit-eating grin on her face, "Sorry for the wait!" She chirped, "But Spain's número uno is here at last, so let's get this party started!"

Wakiya scoffed, "What a joker! Can't believe she beats Free de La Hoya every year!"

Valt grinned, "She's awesome! I so wanna battle her!"

Kiki laughed raucously as Señor Hanami groaned, "Gets him every time!" She cackled sadistically.

"All right, Alexia, do you have anything you want to say to everyone participating in the competition? You flew in from India to watch, at least give a speech." Señor Hanami begged.

Alexia grinned and grabbed a mic, "Listen up, bladers! You got a long way to go before you're even worthy of being acknowledged by me, but some of you'll get there eventually. So stick in the sport and EXCELL! Practice is the name of the game, but trust me, get a physics degree and everything becomes cake, believe it!" There was a pause as people leaned in, before she said, "And y'all probably know I'm facing off against Shirosagijo Lui at the end of the week's tournament day in an exhibition match, so Lui, you better bring your A-game if you want to lose with dignity!" An ominous hush went over the crowd and Shu's ears were ringing. This kid, she was so confident… he pitied her, really, she had no idea just how strong Lui was.

"Nani?!" Valt and Rantaro gasped, "He's participating in the National Team Championships AND the Islander Royale?!"

"Yeah, what gives?!" Wakiya fumed, "And he gets to beat Spain's top? I needed to beat someone who's better than Felicity to prove I'm better!"

Shu scoffed at that, "As if you'll ever be better than her."

Wakiya squawked, "Hey! Of course, you think no ones better than Felicity, you're head over heels!"

Shu quirked an eyebrow, "What's that supposed to mean?" He said testily

Wakiya smirked, "Nothing."

Shu just leaned back into the recliner and continued watching, the teams were being introduced, America had brought in three teams alone, one from their Mexican Division, one from Alaska and the last from New York. Spain's less prominent rookie team, Sunbat United had sent in a team, along with Barcelona's street-rate team. It was ridiculous how many teams there were. There were nearly a hundred of them! Señor Hanami grinned, "Alright, folks! Sit down and get comfortable, first up, we'll be having the individual qualifying rounds!"

Valt had been drinking his hot chocolate when he said that and immediately did a spit-take. "NANI?! There're literally a hundred participants!" He whined

"Oi, dumbass!" Wakiya chided, "That was an expensive carpet, the stains won't come out easily!"

Hoji chose that moment to interject amiably, "Plus, it's more like a hundred and twenty six."

Rantaro groaned as the first match started up, "They're planning to do sixty three matches in a day?! What's wrong with Spain?"

Shu sighed, "It doesn't work like that. If even a single participant loses, his entire team is disqualified. So, it really shouldn't take all that much time." Everyone sighed in relief but tensed up again when he added, "But it could take nearly ten hours, breaks excluded."

As the others started to rant, he turned back to the screen, where the fifth match was starting, "Now introducing, in the West Corner!" Señor Hanami yelled, "From the Mexican Division of the Raging Bulls… the mysterious Azure Eye!"

Felicity was swimming in the pool, surrounded by several people, all enjoying the water, but feeling completely alone. Kajuri, her friend, the one she ABANDONED. She'd been so worried, but she couldn't make herself talk to him, to see that sadistic gleam in eyes filtered with blue glass. She remembered what she had been like Back Then. It was kinda hazy, like going through a fog, as if the mental conditioning she had been put through had slowly taken over her body. Her Falcon had confirmed it… but that didn't make her feel better. She let those strings drag her around! Why hadn't she fought? Why hadn't she gone back? She had spilled her guts to an amateur group of independent reporters the second they called for an interview, but nothing came of it. The people responsible had been sued to near bankruptcy and their funders bribed and threatened away. The only way to bring them back was to go there herself and… she was scared. It was ridiculous, but she couldn't stop the hyperventilation, the quickened pulse, the horror and flashbacks as to went on in that cursed Snakepit. She was disgusted with herself, GODDAMMIT those were her friends in danger but she couldn't, she couldn't stand up. In the end, she was just a pained little girl sobbing to go home. But home was gone. It died when a teal haired boy lost the soft glisten in his eyes, it died when a brown haired kid looked at her with his jaw set with anger, it died when Felicity picked up that stupid FRICKING bird's mask!

All the regrets, the fears, the nightmares she had before Shu finally stabilised her, at least a little, the all came flooding back. Oh, god, how could she forget them?! Her precious ones! The ones who saw her as a child, not a Beyblade prodigy! She moved on with her damned life when they were rotting away in that prison! Believing in her wish for them to follow that path! All her self-loathing came back, her depression, her mental scars. Her arm was itching, the apology she carved months ago, begging for a sacrifice- "A Letus and an Orcus; repayment by death. Painful combination." Akiba said conversationally as he swam up to her.

Felicity turned around, "You can't have your tarot cards in-" she stopped when she saw him leafing through a pack of laminated cards, "Dammit, thought I had you that time." She growled.

Akiba laughed, his visible eye crinkling, "Guess I was a step ahead! What's up with the fortune, though? Do you know someone with suicidal thoughts?"

Felicity played it safe, "Nah, maybe the cards were wrong?"

Akiba rubbed the back of his cards, "I don't really think so. Just you wait, Fliss, Imma make you a believer!"

Felicity snorted, "Yeah, whatever."

Akiba just shook his head, "You're being ridiculous. Our stars have aligned! We'll win for sure!"

Felicity rolled her eyes, "Just cause we've got a kick-ass team doesn't mean we will win the next round."

Akiba grinned "Of course it does! You'll see!"

A person suddenly cannonballed into the pool right beside them, sending both of them spluttering under the water. Akiba finally reached the surface again, coughing violently, to see Kiki Puragris grinning evilly at him. "Hi." She smirked, like a jerk. Before immediately switching gears, "You're up against the German team and the Australian team, aren't you?"

Felicity nodded, flapping her arms a little to stay above the water's surface, "Yep. Cuza Ackermann, Heinrich and one… who was it again?"

"Sasha Guten." Akiba supplied.

Felicity made a finger gun, "Yeah, her."

Kiki blinked, "I remember her! She offered to take up the last position available on the team when Top Wand couldn't find anyone suitable and came to BC Sol for help."

Akiba looked at her, "Isn't it detrimental to give away your members to another club for a competition?"

Felicity shook her head, "That's not really how it works in a competition like this. Everyone knows she's part of BC Sol. The exchange participant wears they're home club's colours and uniforms, and if they win, she would get part of the credit and part of the prize, depending on how much she did."

Akiba hummed, "Alright. I'm certain I could take the first round easy, but… who're these Australian guys?"

Felicity face-faulted, disappearing under the water's surface before resurfacing, hacking and coughing and pulling herself up the side of the pool.

Kiki bit her lip to stop herself from snickering, "The Australian team are called the Rocks. And they're no joke. If they received some proper funding, they'd be a pain to deal with."

Felicity nodded, "Yeah, take them seriously. These guys DON'T mess around."

Akiba shrugged, pulling himself to the side of the pool where he had kept his towel and toweled himself off, "I'm sure we'll be fine. You know what? Let's look up some info on your BeyTab on them, and put together a strategy. Maybe call home base, see if they can help us."

Felicity nodded, tying her hair up in a truly awful ponytail "Sure. Sounds like a good idea. C'mon."

Kiki grinned, and made to get out but Felicity interjected, "Not you, Kiki, you stay here."


	18. Round 1! Put our Thinking Caps on!

Felicity opened up her BeyTab, connecting it to the TV and putting everyone from the Beigoma Academy Beyclub into a conference call. Valt's went straight to voicemail, like Rantarou and Wakiya, but Shu picked up. His hair was sticking up wildly, and he looked really groggy, "Felicity?" he yawned, "What's up?"

"We can come back later. You asleep? I forgot about the time difference."

He jolted up, shaking the phone camera violently, "No, no, it's fine. What did you need?"

Akiba interjected, "We were strategizing for tomorrow's battle, if you don't want to you can hang up. This is painful to watch."

Shu blinked, "What's painful?"

Daigo sighed, "Nothing. Just–"

Hiro picked up, "What's the sitch?" he asked. His hair slightly damp and his eyes wide open, his pupils seemed to vibrating.

Daigo just stared, "What's…wrong with you? Are you vibrating?"

He nodded energetically, "Yeah! I forgot to do my history assignments and have been working on them since night! I just finished! Oh, hi, Shu!"

By that time, Hoji had answered and they were finally all looking at the things Felicity had pulled up.

"So, this is the Aussie team?" Shu asked.

"Yeah." Felicity answered, "Kevin Salvador, using Praetor Perseus. Sara Carmichael, using Viscious Viper. Then there is Michael, with his bey Torpedo Tyr. Besides the Australian team, we'll be up against Top Wand, consisting of Cuza Ackermann, his bey Crash Cognite, Heinrich, the handler of Fiery Fengriff, and Sasha Guten, a Spanish blader temporarily with Top Wand. She uses the bey Giga Gaia."

Hiro nodded, "I've read the rules for this thing. So, each of the three teams have to choose one blader per round?"

Hoji replied, "Yeah. That's basically it. If Team 1's player defeats Team 2's in a Spin Finish then they get one point, but if Team 3's blader defeats him or her right after that with a Burst, they'll get the two points for the Burst, then the point Team 1's representative got for defeating Team 2, making 3 points total. The total is four points, which is also the maximum number of points you can get in a single match, even if it is incredibly rare."

Shu hummed, "So, most of the teams will be sending their most powerful ones right off the bat?"

Felicity nodded, "It's hard to gauge who are the most powerful ones in the Rocks, but considering this type of competition relies on stamina as well as power, I'm guessing Kevin Salvador will step up to the plate. These are Praetor Perseus' stats." She held up her BeyTab so they could all see.

Shu rested his head on his fist, analysing the stats, "A Stamina Type? With that kind of attack power?"

Felicity nodded fervently, "It's got longer teeth, making it harder to activate the Burst mechanism, and it's launcher has been modified to get the most out of every launch. It's Energy Layer is one used by Attack Types and that sort of Defence Layer is used by Defence types or Balance types more than anything else. It's a tricky thing to manage and maintain, but that's what makes him an incredible bladder."

Hiro hummed, "Top Wand will most definitely go with Cuza Ackermann first. His Clash Cognite is a Stamina type. Some might even say the Ultimate Stamina type. If both of these guys are Stamina types, we should send in an Attack type."

Hoji nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like the logical conclusion. Either Daigo or Felicity should go first."

Daigo looked at Felicity, "You should go first. You're stronger than me."

Felicity shook her head, "My stamina sucks. I'll never make it through the round. My aces require killer speed and don't work well in the Royale setting."

Daigo drooped, "Then Akiba should go, he'll do better than me."

Akiba grinned at him ruefully, turning over his cards to show a multitude of bey shapes and avatars, "We both know that can't be done. My advice? Felicity should go. Athena knows best." He spun the Athena card around.

Felicity sighed, "Alright… but don't say I didn't tell you so!"

And that was how they were here, waving at the audience as the walked on to the stage. It was on the beach. The arena was made on platforms of driftwood, surrounded by unlit torches. There were a lot of cameras, an overhead drone, and a giant screen right off of the side showing everything zoomed in. An old-school sports gym type of scoreboard was hanging off a pillar close to the audience. A big circular platform in the middle, where the arena was kept, and three catwalks branching off in opposite directions. There were two chairs under a huge traditional umbrella on the side off each catwalk, where a set off stairs led down to on each catwalk. Señor Hanami was doing the announcing. "And in the Red corner, we have the only Japanese team in the running! The Beigoma Academy Bey Club!" Felicity walked out, dressed in her signature white and black hoodie with demon smile and falcon insignia. She waved confidently as she passed, smirking at the squealing fans. "The Cazadora Princessa, Felicity Comas, leads them with her legendary bey Flash Falcon!" Akiba slunk behind the two, flipping through his cards and shouting out fortunes to the crowd, "Look out for Akiba Gorudo! He knows attacks are coming before he even sees them!" Daigo slouched down, dark and broody, "And Doom and Gloom, Daigo Kurogami is not one to be messed with, unless you want his bey to reap your soul!"

The three walked off the catwalk, and towards the two chairs under an umbrella nearest to their catwalk. And Señor Hanami was off again, "And in the Blue Corner we have Top Wand! These circus people are here to put on a show! Starring Cuza Ackermann, the resident trapeze artist! His bey Clash Cognite, is the best you'll ever get!" Cuza grinned as he walked out, bending down to high five people and taking bows. "Heinrich, the calm and collected one. What devious scheme is he cooking up behind that mask?" Heinrich just walked out, perfectly neutral, "And give it up for Spain's Sasha Guten!" There was cheering as the triad went to their chairs as well. Señor Hanami started up on the next team, "And last but not least! We have in the Yellow Corner…the Rocks! Australia's international team! We have Kevin Salvador, the strong and silent leader!" A boy with his blond hair in dreadlocks walked out, he had a tan and pitch black eyes. "Sara Carmichael! Don't be fooled by her gentle nature, folks! She has a venomous bite and she knows it!" A girl with hooded red eyes, and long sleeves smiled demurely, her grin showing just a little viciousness. "And Michael! Crashing through obstacles like a torpedo, never stopping till the whole thing's over! Everyone! These are this match's contestants!" Everyone cheered even more. He continued, "Now! Each team, pick a member to go for the first round."

Almost instantly, Cuza jumped up to his spot on the arena. Felicty walked up, and Kevin strutted to his place. The referee nodded, "Take a good look at each other's bey." They did, Felicity quickly analyzing components to both beys and figuring out there tricks and the best thing to do with them. They handed the beys back, and readied their launches. 3! 2! 1! Let it…rip! Felicity started right off the bat with a Talon launch, having changed her feathered blade for a metal one before she walked on to the arena. She struck deep into Praetor Perseus, but stopped her bey from driving it out of the stadium in a Burst because it was a Royale. Praetor Perseus landed unevenly, wobbling dangerously, while Falcon was slightly slower, its increased weight slowing it down. She gritted her teeth, "Hang in there, Falcon…" Cognite dashed towards the center, where Perseus was, possibly looking for a Burst Finish, and Falcon was headed straight towards the wall. She gritted her teeth, timing the collision just right along with her avatar… _Click. _There! She repeated it again, _Click, Click, click! _The speed was picking up, the clicking had turned into a volley of beats, and sparks Cognite attacked Perseus, bouncing off it, weakening its defence, until it revved back for one last… Falcon dove into the fray then, its speed leaving only a blur, striking straight through both beys as Felicity yelled, "Thunder Launch!"

There was a quiet hush as the score board shifted to Beigoma academy Bey Club getting Four points, "And just like that, Felicity Comas does it again! The Famous Five-Second Finish!" Señor Hanami gushed.

Cuza stared at her, "That was awesome!" he finally announced, "So that's the power of the God Layer System? I want that!"

Felicity smiled gently, "Good to hear it. Look for a skilled BeyTrainer, they'd help you with it, or go to some sort of Bey research lab. I hope we battle again sometime."

Cuza grinned and nodded, walking off with a smile. Felicity turned back, and hopped off the stage, "That didn't take as long as I expected. Praetor Perseus couldn't really hold it's own against two beys. The Thunder Launch is one hell of a move."

Akiba grinned, "What did I say? The cards never lie."

Daigo sighed as they walked away, "Did you have to bother Shu and the others for strategies?"

Felicity shook her head, "I swear they were harder to beat the last time I faced those guys, and at that time it was a one-on-one thing."

Akiba rested his head by crossing his arms behind his neck, "You seriously underestimate your progress rate."

She played with her braid, "I didn't realize…"

Daigo shrugged, "Whatever, let's go do something else. Wait to see who'll be up against us next."

Felicity nodded, "Right! I saw a juice bar down by the shore! Come on!"

She grabbed them both by the wrists and dragged them away. Both boys yelped and stumbled behind her. Felicity bounded up to the stall, "¡Café con leche, por favor!"

The guy smiled, and started working on it, "¿Y ustedes dos necesitan algo?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

Felicity whispered, "He's asking if you want something?"

Daigo nodded slowly, "Err… A smoothie, I guess? Strawberries and Bananas?" He pointed at the English portion of the menu set up outside the stall.

Akiba shrugged, "I'll take Café Solo, I guess." Daigo looked at him, and he shrugged, "The whole resort is being run by employees of the Spanish branch of the WBBA, right? I read up on Spanish customs."

Felicity nodded, "Good initiative. I honestly didn't think of that."

The guy at the stall handed Daigo a glass, who swiped his key card in the scanner to pay for it.

Felicity picked up her glass, swiped the card and took a long draught, before sighing dreamily, "¡Café, mi preciosa amiga, te extraño!"

Akiba just rolled his eyes, "How long has it been since you had coffee?"

Felicity shrugged, "Years? Ever since Taiga-Shishō cut off my supply when he was apprenticed by Grandpa Raul."

Daigo just ignored the urge to lecture her about drinking coffee when you're a kid. It wasn't worth it. Nope. Resist.

They finished their drinks and set off in different directions. Akiba went to the main lobby, looking for other bladers, and hoping to use the video payphone there as well. Felicity went to her room, to meditate and take a look around the Beyblade Aura Realm. Daigo… he just wandered around, looking at the sights and the sounds.

Akiba swiped his card, and dialed his mother's number. It picked up soon, and his mother's face stared back at him, "Akiba! How are you? Did you win?"

Akiba grinned and shook his head, "Kaa-chan!" he said, both exasperated and fond, "There are still a couple rounds to go. We haven't won yet. But our cards assure us of a solid victory! I'm good though, it's been fun. Where's Sakura? I haven't seen her for ages!"

"I'll call her." His mother replied. "Wait here."

A couple minutes later, a girl with blue-green hair and yellow eyes, looking to be in her early twenties ran into frame. She had on hearing aids in both ears, and signed furiously, "**Hey, otouto!**"

Akiba signed back, "**Hi. I missed you.**"

**"Same here. How's it going, with the tournament?" **She replied

He answered, **"It's going good. Fun, really. If I win, bet I could get scouted by an international Beyclub or get invited to a bigger contest and get prize money. I bet we could fix your ears then!"**

She shook her head, **"Silly, otouto. I don't need fixing, you should keep the money, it'll be needed when you're travelling the world."**

**"But I don't need it."** He argued. **"Seriously. It's fine. Lets… talk about this later. How was your college abroad?"**


	19. Kajuri's Eyes of Azure

Felicity looked through her BeyTab, in the next round, the semifinals, actually, they were going up against AS Gallus, and the Raging Bulls Mexican Division. She wasn't looking forward to it. Kajuri was participating. Just… why? She had never truly forgotten about him. Or Boa. She just…needed time to formulate a plan of attack. It cost way too much to get a lawyer, and the few private investigations that had been set up had been brought down pretty quick because of the mostly water-tight security of the place. It was HARD to get any kind of proof. Even witness or victim accounts, because most people who were subjected to this either didn't see the training gym for what it really was, or when they did find out, they were brainwashed made completely loyal to Ashtem. Or they died. That happened a lot. She was scared, actually. Not for herself. But for her friends. She deserved this to be happening to her. She was the one responsible for this mess. Not Boa. Not Kajuri. Not Shu. Hell! She might even have had some hand in that whole demonic resonance bullshit with Daigo! Point was, she didn't deserve to be out here. Sipping a pina colada and brooding on this quiet desolate part of the shore while her friends rotted in the Snakepit. She sighed as she got up. Thus was getting her nowhere. Maybe she should sign up for therapy when this all was over. As she scanned the beach. She caught sight of frighteningly familiar teal hair. It was Kajuri! She walked up and tapped the guy on the shoulder, "K-Kajuri?"

He spun around, revealing the stupid Azure Eye mask he had been so pleased to get. "I don't know anyone by that name. You must be mistaken." He softly replied, his voice gravelly from the voice modifier.

It felt like a punch to the gut, but Felicity swallowed down the jump rising in her throat, "Yes. You do. That's your name. Remember me? I'm Felicity Comas. Your best friend. SNAP OUT OF IT!" At the same time, Falcon screeched loudly and Felicity's hands burned white for a second before jolting Kajuri back into the sand. She gasped, the weight of her actions hitting her, "Kajuri? Are you alright?! I'm so so so so sorry…" she knee-slid over to him, as he coughed out sand.

He looked at me with a scowl, "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice a pitch higher than what Felicity remembered as the voice modifier gave out. "Get away from me!" he squeaked nervously.

Felicity didn't stop, "Not until you tell me who I am." She insisted, bravely.

"Y-You're Jade Eye." He said, his voice wavering just slightly, "You're a traitor."

"No, I'm not." She glared back, "I didn't betray the Snake pit. The threw me away. They used me, and they threw me away! And now they're using you! Except you're too blind to see that!"

"You're wrong." The boy answered, "They gave you limitless power, they helped you get to this position, but they paid for that decision. For trusting you. And so did I." with that, he walked away. Leaving Felicity distraught.

* * *

Daigo was worried. Felicity hadn't looked good when she returned, her eyes all puffy-eyed. She hadn't answered when he questioned her, so he'd dropped it. He had no right to stick his nose in her business. Akiba was worried too, he noticed. He was staring at Aegis a lot during the past few hours, mumbling to himself. They had been pulled away for a press meeting a few hours before sunset, so they went. Felicity had seemed to transform then, rubbing away the redness in her eyes, and smiling as though it was natural. It came to him with a jolt that she acted like that a lot when they hung around her at the beginning. How many times had she been hurting and they just didn't notice? Now, they walked up the platform, waving and smiling. Daigo was going first from the Beigoma Academy Bey Club. From AS Gallus, it was Ruck Mar, and from the Mexican Division, or as Felicity tended to refer to it, the 'nido de serpientes' was Leo Campbell. He looked at his two opponents and sighed slowly. Leo Campbell had a Galaxy Zeus 4Meteor Planet, and it was a Stamina type, meaning he had an advantage, while Ruck Mar's Odin was a Balance type, meaning that if he played this right, he could win easily. He took a deep breath and released it with a puff. He had failed Doomsizor once before. He won't do it again. Fliss was counting on him, Akiba, Valt, all of them were. He couldn't afford to lose their trust. He didn't want to be alone again. Not again. Felicity had gone out of her way to help him, to make him a new bey. A stronger bey, he couldn't repay her by losing. Señor Hanami was yelling something, boisterously announcing everything for the audience. The referee put his hand out, "3!" they all took their stances. Ruck Mar had a regular launcher but Leo Campbell had a long winder. "2!" they focused on each other, keeping unwavering eye contact. "1! Let it…Rip!" and they yanked back the ripcord, sending the beys ricocheting into the stadium. Deathsizor and Zeus landed perfectly, but Odin moved uncontrollably fast and the launch was slightly off-center, and both Daigo and Leo honed into that, dashing forwards to make a quick kill from opposite sides. Odin had no chance, shattering from the pressure of two beys pressing in on each side. The beys quickly moved back, trying to reassess the situation. They started spinning around the stadium. Señor Hanami cheered, "Would you look at that! The other two bladers have teamed up to attack AS Gallus! Question is… whose gonna get the two points for that Burst finish?" There was quite muttering, then the score shifted to both Beigoma Bey Club and Raging Bulls Mexican Division to both having one point. Deathsizor and Zeus started clashing visciously. He narrowed his eyes, "Come on, Deathsizor! End this!" he commanded.

Leo gritted his teeth as Zeus was pushed back, "Almighty Push!" Zeus sped up, skipping out of range from Deathsizor's attacks then appearing behind it and engaging it again.

Daigo gritted his teeth, "Hang in there, Deathsizor!" he encouraged. But it did nothing, Deathsizor went flying out of the stadium.

Señor Hanami cheered, "There you have it, folks! First round; and the score's 2-1-0! AS Gallus better pick up the slack!"

Daigo slumped and walked back to the others. "Sorry." He said.

Felicity shrugged, "No worries. It happens!"

Akiba nodded, "My cards warned me of a half-victory. A cursed victory. Guess this is what they meant. It's just the luck of the draw, I'll go next, right? We'll win, no sweat."

Daigo blinked, "You're… not mad?"

Felicity snorted, "No? I mean, I've lost more spectacularly than that! You should see some of my more epic fails online from the start of my blading career when I got a God Bey. So embarrassing."

Daigo opened his mouth, then closed it again. Huh. They weren't disappointed in him. He hadn't failed them. Not yet. Akiba got up, "Well, anyways! Guess I've gotta strut my stuff, right? Just sit back, I got this!" He got up and jumped onto his place, where the RBM had sent out Richard Yello and AS Gallus had sent out Allan Renoir. The three took their respective stances 3! 2! 1! Let it… rip! Richard's Lycanthe was an attack type and Allan's Roktavor was a stamina type, putting Aegis in an odd position. Aegis headed straight for the center, not dithering around or searching for traction. Both Lycanthe and Roktavor started attacking him, but Aegis swiftly diverted the attacks or simply toughed it out. Nothing even shook it. Five minutes of this and Aegis showed no signs of giving up, "It's futile." He declared, "My cards foretell your loss. It's inevitable."

It seemed to strike Allan Renoir, cause he immediately shot back, "Thanos said that too! Look what happened to him!"

Richard and Akiba stared at him in confusion, until Richard just shook his head, "Movie Geeks…" he muttered.

Akiba just turned his attention back onto the stadium, where Aegis was slowly, almost unnoticeably losing speed. Richard smirked, "Would you look at that! You're running out of steam!"

Akiba just grinned, "It seems like I am." He responded calmly.

The two other bladers just shook their heads and attacked Aegis. Then Akiba held his hand out, "Now! Aegis, Sunset Burst!" Right before the attack hit. Aegis immediately sped up, releasing a last second spin boost, and slamming into Roktavor with as much power as physically possible, jolting it to a stop on contact, then used the power he gained from ricocheting off of the now stationary bey to slam Lycanthe out of the stadium. There was shocked silence until DJ Blader broke it, "Would you look at that! Akiba Gorudo is so not one to be messed with!"

Daigo just hung his head as Felicity rushed up and hugged him excitedly. The scoreboard changed to 2-3-0.

Señor Hanami cheerfully yelled out, "Alright, folks! For the very last round, there's only one blader left on each side!" With that, Felicity strutted up to the stage, and Azure Eye sauntered up to his position too. A shaking boy from AS Gallus made his way up, eyeing his two opponents apprehensively. The three whipped out their beys, but the last one lost his grip and fumbled with his launcher and bey for a second before attaching it. They all took their stances, Felicity whipping her launcher around her hand, twisting it around and around and around.** 3! **She stopped spinning it. **2! **She attached Falcon to the Launcher** 1! **She rested her fingers on the feather emblem end of the ripcord.** Let it…Rip! **Shadow Kraken zipped out, a perfect launch. The nervous boy's Kerbeus landed shakily and was immediately obliterated by Falcon. Only Kajuri left now. She bit her lip as Falcon whipped around, aiming for the center, where Kraken had made its lair. She swung around a lot, aiming for the center. Even up against a heavy barrage like that, Kraken didn't budge, and Kajuri smirked, "Kraken won't give up that easily, I can assure you."

Felicity gritted her teeth and focused. Falcon's aura resonated with hers as it backed up for a final attack…

* * *

Azure Eye couldn't understand what was going on. He was the only Shadow Blader here with a mask, since they couldn't risk him getting recognized by the backstabber Jade Eye. For years he had seethed, that two-faced person had wormed his way into his heart. She had signed her will away in exchange for power, and tricked him and Boa into doing the same. Then she had disappeared, taking the power that had been offered to her, and leaving her end of the deal, her obedience, to be shouldered by the only ones who knew her well before the Snakepit, t_hem._ Of course, he was never bitter for going to the Snakepit. They hadn't asked much in return for the power they bestowed upon him. Sure, the training was tough, and the hours painfully long, but one couldn't achieve greatness without sacrifice. It was only after her defection that they were faced with suspicions, remembered as the friends of the rogue. The only rogue in the history of Snakepit. Their training became unforgiving, they were treated with disdain, and they were sent in for longer times of conditioning to ensure that they didn't plan on following their friend's footsteps. He barely remembered a time when there was no Azure Eye. When it was only Kajuri. He only remembered the bad parts, like getting yelled at by Lui Shirosagi. Or standing behind the crowds of paparazzi as Fliss stepped out of a plane. Why did she get all the glory? Why? He worked hard, too! He had let her borrow his Bey for her first battle. Why was she so much better than him? And it was worse because she was so nice. He didn't want to be mean to her. He didn't want to be angry at her for being special, because she was better. But he saw that day she was two-faced liar, who had been playing him all along, just to get stronger. And how _dare_ she!? Then she showed up, acting so heartbroken to see him, and he just felt _angrier._ What did she want, now? Hadn't she sucked him dry of whatever she could use for her own personal gain?! She had betrayed the Snakepit, the best, kindest organization out there, who had offered them countless opportunities. And then she shoved him. And he felt warmth engulf him. Warmth he hadn't felt before, but now, if he thought back to it, kind of reminded him of all the times he had interacted with her before. And he had just become more confused. She was trying to corrupt him, a part of him warned, and it was working. She was planting thoughts in his mind he wouldn't be having otherwise. And now, they were fated to battle each other. He watched her twirl her launcher around, but he had seen the trick before, locking eyes on the hand with the bey instead. It wasn't moving. The blades weren't being exchanged. Interesting. A fakeout, then. She took down the Kerbeus from AS Gallus with lightning quick efficiency, then came towards him. Now, she was revving up, for another attack and he braced for it as Falcon moved forward. As it did, he realized, he had seen the movements before. For his very first defeat by her hands. Alarm bells went off, and he immediately willed Kraken to back away, quickly. Kraken moved away from the center, but Falcon had already jumped, somersaulting through the air, and landing shakily, not on top of Kraken. He smirked, and Felicity worried her lips a little, before looking up at Kajuri and mouthed one word. Sorry. Sorry?! What did she mean? Her eyes glowed white, and her visage flickered as though he was looking at her though a heatwave. And she called her next attack, "Falcon! Aura Launch!" the bey sped up, fast and furious, and collided with Kraken in an intense battle of wills. They locked together, clashing, before separating and then clashing together again. Sparks were rising, and he could feel the emotion in the air. _I missed you._ He missed her too, deep down. _I know I messed up. _HE suffered so much because of it. I just need one more chance. He wanted to give it to her, but he had no say in such matters. The Snakepit went by its own rules. _The Snakepit is stifling us. It's the cause of this._ He didn't want to listen to her lies. They were lies. _You're not getting stronger like this. _But it was the truth. He wasn't. _And you're not having fun either. _He had forgotten what it was like to have fun, not always looking over his shoulder for rivals trying underhanded tricks. As his uncertainty rose he got her final message. _Let's talk later._ He nodded, silently, and as Falcon ripped through Kraken, he found it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would to be beaten by someone he had spent so much time trying to catch up to. Hell! He had been driven to the Snakepit looking for a way to beat her and Ashtem had promised he'd get that chance. But he wasn't that strong. Had Ashtem lied?


	20. Kajuri's Filtered Vision

Kajuri was waiting for Felicity on the side of the beach of that they had before in. He was just standing there, without his mask, that she couldn't resist. She rushed forward and glomped him on the back. He gave an exasperated sigh, "You haven't changed, have you?"

She shook her head eagerly, "Nope~! I'm just glad you wanted to hear me out."

He pointedly ignored it, "What did you want to tell me? Get it over with. We're leaving today as it is."

She looked at him regretfully, "You still don't believe me? Seriously?"

He looked away, "You turned your back on us."

She sighed, "I tried. I told anyone who was willing to investigate. No one would listen and I-I couldn't go back, I was so scared. All these months, I've been saying sorry. I've been trying to make it up. I did. Just-"

He started moving away, "If you have nothing of worth to say, I'm leaving."

She screwed her eyes shut and pulled up her sleeve, brandishing the back of her arm, where she had carved her apology over the six months of her defection. He started backwards, but she was already walking away, tears burning through her eyes, "I hope Boa's doing okay." She choked out, "Tell him you met me when you get back. Bye." And with that she ran.

That night, Alexia Stuart and Lui Shirosagi battled one-on-one in an exhibition battle. Felicity took her place in the seats reserved for the Ultimo Seis, watching as the top blader in Spain faced off against the aqua-haired boy. He grinned as he walked up, "You ready to be crushed?" he taunted.

Alexia pretended to consider it before waving her hand away, "_I think I'll pass. But you should brace yourself, cause I hope you like whoop-ass." _Except she said it in Spanish, so most of the foreign beyblade teams gathered there didn't get why half the stadium exploded into snickers at Lui's expression.  
And it started. 3! 2! 1! Let it… Rip! Luinor hit the center with precision and Athena went in for the attack. Barrage after barrage, she didn't let up, but it didn't help. Lui scoffed, "That all you got?" he asked. Before revving back up as Athena came forward, and hitting it at the exact same time. The bey zoomed out of the stadium at a breakneck pace…

In another part of the world, the Beigoma Academy Beyclub were once again in Wakiya's theatre room, watching the one chance to get a look at Lui Shirosagi's Luinor. Shu stared at the incredible speed and attack power Athena was giving off. And Luinor still wasn't budging! _He's gotten stronger… _Luinor revved backwards and he wanted to shout a warning even though he knew she couldn't hear her, and the bey spun forward and it was like watching his own match against Lui, except it zoomed out of the stadium in a blur, and hit her, right in the eyes. Blood gushed out, too much for it to be just a scratch. There was a lot of swearing. At least he though so, it was mostly Spanish but it kept on being bleeped out, so whatever. Alexia Stuart keeled backwards, shocked into silence, red and yellow fluids gushing out of her eye sockets and Felicity was suddenly jumping the side, knee sliding over to catch her before she hit the ground and cracked her skull. There was hysterical commands yelled out in Spanish, sudden panic as people scrambled for medics and doctors. Shu stared in shock as Lui Shirosagijo just sneered and attempted to walk off. He was stopped, obviously, by the teal-haired Kiki Puragris, who glared at him in absolute in anger and brought a foot up between his legs in a harsh kick that had him wincing. Lui screamed and curling up on the floor, swearing. Kiki just spat on his prone body before her twin dragged her away to check on Alexia. Suddenly someone yelled out, "Watch the camera!" As the scene tilted and fizzled out.

"OH GOD." Rantaro very aptly said.

"That was awful." Valt whispered, "He shouldn't be allowed to do that."

Wakiya just sniffed, "I hope that kick hurt." And Shu found that he agreed.

He thought about the utter hatred he had felt towards Lui when he had nearly lost his eye. The doctors had managed to transplant one for him, but for a time there, he had been convinced he wouldn't have an eye for the rest of his life. Would Alexia be able to have an eye transplant? Or was she doomed to a lifetime of blindness? He didn't want to think of it. He didn't know her personally, but he had seen her on international tournaments held in Japan, and meet-and-greets directly after. She was friendly and bubbly, kind of like Valt. Beyblade had been her passion and Felicity had looked up to her. Lui had no right to do that to a person. It wasn't right.

That night, the entire Ultimo Seis congregated outside Alexia's room at the local hospital. There had been no planning, they all just silently turned up there. Even Free. Kiki was still seething, but most of the others were just quietly sad. The doctors finally came outside and turned towards them, "She'll be taking visitors now."

Kiki and Felicity lunged for the door, while Free and Ferdinand lagged behind, quietly entering. Alexia sat in the bed, her eyes covered by rolls of bandages yet still somehow stained slightly red. She looked up towards the sound of them entering, "Who is it?" she asked.

"Just us." Felicity replied, "The four of us."

Alexia grinned, "Good. Hey guys."

Ferdinand signed something and Kiki translated, "Ferdinand is saying you shouldn't get into these situations."

Alexia laughed, "I'll keep that in mind."

"How bad is it?" Felicity probed instead.

Alexia sighed, "Good news, he didn't hit my eyes directly. The blood was mostly from my nose, and the parts around my eyes. The eyes themselves might still heal."

Free looked at her, "So your beyblade career isn't over yet?"

Alexia nodded, "Uh huh, after this, I'm gonna hit the tarmac. Go on a training journey. Beat Lui Shirosagi!"

Kiki grinned savagely, "Don't worry about him. He got instant karma when I kicked him. It must've _hurt. _Jerk deserved it."

Felicity put her hand on Alexia's shoulder, "Are you sure you're okay? That-That was terrifying."

Alexia waved her hand, "Pshaw, don't worry about it! I'll bounce back, as long as the eye doesn't get infected. But! The finals are tomorrow, right? You and your Jap team versus BC Sol?"

Kiki and Felicity exchanged glances, "Well, yeah, they wanted the tournament to be over and done with as soon as possible after that. First thing tomorrow, then a quiet closing ceremony, and we're headed back home."

Alexia nodded, and then smiled, "I'll be fine! You guys are freaking out too much! Well, I assume you are, Free, but I don't even know if you're still here, you're that quiet."

Free spoke up, "Yeah. I'm still here."

She turned towards his voice, "Well, I forgot to mention; Congratulations!"

"For what?" Free asked.

Alexia smirked, "For becoming the best blader in Spain! What else?"

He grunted, "Well, I didn't think it would happen like this, but…Thanks, I guess."

Felicity grinned as she relaxed into the familial environment. It was fine. Alexia was gonna be fine.

It was the next day; the finals were up. The final round was a one-on-one team match, against BC Sol and the Beigoma Academy Beyclub. There was a tension in the air, as TV interviewers clamored for attention. All six finalists were quiet, deathly serious. There was no time for jokes. They just needed to get this over and done with. Even Señor Hanami felt the atmosphere, his voice subdued and less upbeat than usual. As the walked into the dugout, Felicity turned inwards, "Falcon, what do you think?"

Falcon was quick to reply, "I believe they're best option would be to fake out. Sending in Rickson Clay, who, while not entirely well-known is not to be underestimated."

She turned towards Daigo and Akiba, "Who wants to go first?" she asked.

Daigo and Akiba exchanged glances, "Well…" Akiba shuffled his cards, "I believe Daigo will be the best option, since one of them is a Balance type, favoring heavily on Stamina, another is an Attack type and the last being a Balance type with a mix of Defense and Stamina."

Daigo sweated a little, "But I… lost the last time. What if I lose again?"

Felicity laughed, "No shame, dude. But give it a go, alright?"

Daigo nodded hesitantly, and walked up to the stadium to meet Rickson Clay, just as Falcon predicted.

3! 2! 1! Let it… rip! Deathsizor and Jormangardnr landed perfectly, with Jormungard aiming for the center. They clashed, sending up sparks, but Deathsizor was being pushed back. Daigo couldn't lose. Not again. He didn't want to be left behind by his teammates, and he especially didn't want Corrupt Doomsizor to be right. He didn't. He couldn't. Not again. He nearly lost himself once. And he had seen what had happened to those who lost themselves completely, and he refused to turn into whatever the hell Lui Shirosagi or that weird Azure Eye person had been turned into.

"Deathsizor!" he called, "Reaper Launch!" and Deathsizor struck forward, spinning around, delivering blows in a frenzy. Then burst right through Jormangard. He grinned as it slashed right through, the pieces landing in different places.

Señor Hanami wildly gesticulated, "Unbelievable! The Beigoma Academy Bey Club is setting the tone of the finals with a burst finish right off the bat!"

Daigo grinned as he grabbed Deathsizor and staggered off the stage, feeling Felicity's hand patting his back. He won! He did it! He wasn't worthless!

Akiba went up next, facing Kiki Puragris. She grinned menacingly as she stared him down, "Alright, fortune-teller," she taunted, "Can ya tell your fortune?"

Akiba's exposed eye turned up as he smiled, "Sure can! It's promising certain victory."

Kiki smirked, "Well, that's where you're wrong." She promised, "I assure you, I ain't number five for nothing."

They took their stances, 3! 2! 1! Let it… rip! King Kronos and Astral Aegis charged into the stadium. Aegis made its way into the center, and Akiba grinned, "The stars have aligned. You're not winning this match."

Kiki's face hardened, "Watch it, fortune-teller, don't count me out yet. Come on, Kronos! Swing your scythe and cut his fate!"

Kronos attacked, a heavy barrage that even Aegis had trouble dealing with. But it held fast. Kiki cursed, as she started spinning fast, revving up for another round, "Alright! Time Vortex!"

Kronos latched onto Aegis in the next attack, orbiting around Aegis while never breaking contact. Akiba gritted his teeth, "Hang in there, Aegis!" Akiba shouted.

The beys separated for a few seconds, and that was all Akiba needed, "Now! Foreseen Counter!"

The by seemed to sink a few millimeters, speeding up in the process, while Kronos came in for another attack. Boom. The two beys were blown backwards by the force of the strike. King Kronos landed on the ground in front of Akiba at the same time as Aegis burst and landed in pieces in front of Kiki. The two stared at the other's bey before turning to the referee, "Who won?!"

The referee scratched his neck, "I… uh… Can we get instant replay over here?"

Immediately play by play footage showed up on the screens. The was tense trepidation, until the referee announced, "Winner, Kiki Puragris, with her bey King Kronos."

BC Sol supporters cheered loudly, as the scoreboard shifted to 2-1.

Akiba groaned and gathered up Kronos, while Kiki put Aegis back together. When they handed the beys back to each other, he nodded at her. She grinned back, "You got guts, kid." She admitted, "Hope you get far in the Beyblade world."

He simply smiled grudgingly and walked back to the others. Felicity grinned, "Well, told you fortune telling was garbage." She offered.

Akiba snorted, "Yeah, whatever."

And DJ Blader stood up, "That was an incredible two matches! Now, we'll have a short intermission while our spectators get snacks and our participants cool down! And now… a word from our sponsors!"

Azure Eye walked into the Snakepit with the other two Snakepit bladers after their defeat at the hands of Felicity and her stupid bey club. They soundlessly walked towards Ashtem's office, braced for a tongue-lashing. Failure wasn't acceptable in the Snake pit. Not unless you wanted to disappear without explanation. As they entered the ante chamber of Ashtem's office. Gold Eye looked at them all with silent disapproval that was almost palpable in the air. "I expected better." He huffed, "The Snakepit has never lost such a humiliating way." Azure Eye hung his head lower.

A smooth voice cut into Gold Eye's rant, "That's enough, Gold Eye. They'll hear it from me as it is."

Gold Eye hesitated, "Err… yes, sir." And he shot them a scowl, "Well? Get inside you three!"

The three stumbled inside the office, where Ashtem floated inside and seated himself on the office chair-throne hybrid of his. He looked at them in silence, letting them sweat for a while. Then, spoke in a cold, heavy voice, "You disappointed me." He said. Three simple, simple words, but all three of the people winced and bowed their heads. "A street-class club. With no discipline, no resources, no Trainers. Managed to beat in the most pathetic display I have ever seen. A street-rank club and AS _Gallus__._" The disdain was obvious in his voice, "Richard. You did well, considering you actually won your match. You will get off with a slap on the wrist."

Richard Yello stood to attention, saluting him, "Th-Thank you, sir!"

Ashtem nodded, "Alright then, get out of my sight, Bey Tread Stadium, 13 pounds. No breaks until five consecutive Burst Finishes are achieved against the Infinity Attack Bey."

Richard sweatdropped and shakily ran outside. Azure Eye's concerns grew. If that was a light sentence… what was his punishment going to be? When the other boy was sent out, it was only him left, and the tension in the room had yet to disperse. Ashtem looked at him like he was something nasty that he had trodden on. "Azure Eye, your participation against the _Traitor _was the most disgraceful." He snapped out, "That _girl _should've been crushed by the might of the Snakepit. I thought that you, as a member of the Shadow Bladers, could handle it. It appears that I was mistaken. Tell me, did she goad you into turning your coat as well?"

Azure Eye stared at Ashtem, contemplating his answer…


	21. Redemption Never Came

For the last two years he had served the Snakepit, Azure Eye had done so diligently. He had pushed himself to the brink and back, working himself to the bone for the Snakepit's reputation. Even his affiliation with the Back Stabber Jade Eye changed nothing. All it did was give him more reason to rise up the ranks. But now, things were different. She was suffering for her mistake. As much as he had suffered. And she didn't have to. She suffered only because she had felt like she needed to, for the sake of her friends. Even though they were no longer friends. And he had lost. All the promises of power and fame, and he had lost. So where did his loyalties lie? He didn't know. He had to give this further thought, but for now, there was only one right answer if he didn't want to get deported, "No, sir. I remain on your side. I'm no idiot, I know which is the right decision." He replied robotically.

Ashtem nodded, "Alright, then. Leave. But from now on, you're on a three-week probation period. Failure to keep up with expectations will lead you to be put on bee-keeping duty."

Azure Eye shuddered. Bee-keeping duty was what it sounded like. Extracting honey from the hives. But some of the hives weren't bees. They were hornets. Extremely aggressive. The stings would hurt a lot, and if you were unlucky enough to be allergic to them… well, there weren't any hospitals near by or emergency services around. Too bad.

It wasn't until he probation was over that he saw Boa. Perhaps it was intentional. But the Snakepit couldn't afford to record every waking moment of its members' lives, and luckily, as one of the Shadow Bladers, he had managed to figure out which windows of time and space were available for him to talk to Boa. Alone. Which was how they were 'coincidentally' signed up for deforesting duty together. Boa barely acknowledged him when they met each other for the first time in seven months. The last time they had been together was when right after the investigation of Felictiy's survival and defection. Now, he was guarded, unwilling to trust, such a cold contrast with the funny kid he had found in Mexico City, that Kajuri found himself wondering why he didn't realize sooner what was happening. Now he was just a grunt. Another face in the crowd. A cookie cutter blader. And it was so wrong. As they worked on chopping down the branches of one of the trees, for export of construction, he called out to Boa, "You've changed."

Boa didn't look at him, focused intently on his task, before replying, "So've you."

He hummed, "Not for the better, though."

Boa didn't answer. But Kajuri continued talking anyways, "I met Fliss recently. Did you hear?"

It got a rise out of Boa at least, "Heard that, and also that you lost to the turncoat."

Kajuri nodded, "She talked to me after she won, you know. Alone."

A derisive snort, "Convinced you to defect, too, has she? Now she wants you to pull me over to her side as well."

Kajuri shook his head, "It wasn't that. She just wanted to say sorry. Showed how much she meant it too. She gouged it into her arm. Not that deep, but _damn _it was old. She had been hurting too, you know?"

Boa looked at him, "Well, I don't see her here getting us out, or even apologizing in person, so she mustn't be that sorry."

As he was talking, a white splat hit his poncho. He cursed, "Ew, gross!" and threw off the poncho, before looking up, "Damn bird…" he caught sight of a white blur, with accents of red. "Wait… is that…?"

Backtrack two weeks, right after the commercials finished rolling, DJ Blader was off again, "Now, stepping up to plate, are the two powerhouses on either side! Felicity Comas and Ferdinand Puragris!" Ferdinand and Felicity walked onto their own sides, as their pictures flashed on to the screen, "Beigoma Academy needs two points to win, and BC Sol needs three! Which blader will win out?"

Ferdinand wove through handsigns, which made the sign language translator jump in, "Don't get overconfident. We can still turn this around."

Felicity nodded, "I'll be sure to keep my guard up, I hope you haven't been slacking off while I've been gone."

Ferdinand signed, "_Likewise._"

They both grinned, well, Felicity did, Ferdinand's eyes just creased up, since the rest of his face was hidden by the mask, before shifting to serious battle mode. They took their stances, Blader DJ was blaring in the background, and 3! 2! 1! Let it… rip!

They burst into stadium, two perfect launches. Forneus struck right into the center, Falcon circling from above. They clashed fiercly, for first contact, each side fighting for the upper hand, completely unyielding. Forneus ducked away first, causing Falcon to slam into the slope, before charging back down at an even higher speed. The two beys exchanged blows as Falcon circled around, looking for a chink in his defences. Sparks flew and no one was pulling any punches. Forneus swung back as Falcon moved forward, before swinging forward like a pendulum and punting the light bey into the air. The bey moved in an arc, cartwheeling backwards, nearly out of bounds of the stadium, before it glowed, just a faintest indentation of white, and heated up, its feathered blade opening up and pulling it back into the edge of the stadium, where it started moving back towards it target, gaining speed. Felicity's eyes glowed with a white fire, as her aura pounded away, Falcon's figure floating behind her in the Aura Field. Meaning no one could see her. Both handler and avatar spoke in tandem as the two beys collided, "Aura Launch!"

Felicity's eyes sparked as the Aura field encloaked them. The sudden change of scenery caught Ferdinand of guard, making the purple enshrouding him falter, and allowing Felicity's warm, bright white to engulf their surroundings. It was a single flash, and then, the real world resurfaced. Ferdinand was panting harshly, but Felicity was standing slumped, sweating heavily, heaving as she gripped her knees to stead herself. On the stadium, Falcon was stuttering to a halt, next to the burst pieces of Forneus. The two rivals grinned, exhausted, as DJ Blader yelled in background, "Incredible! Felicity Comas has defeated Ferdinand Puragris. Damas y caballeros, you heard that right! Felicity Comas has won the title for Spain's Second Best, and pushed BC Beigoma to win the Islander Royal!"

Fireworks went off, and confetti rained down, but Felicity fell backwards, instead of cheering, being immediately caught by Kiki and Ferdinand. Kiki grinned, "Way to go!" she congratulated her, "Good to know you weren't slouching about!"

Felicity grinned shakily as Rickson Clay dragged both Akiba and Daigo onto stage, congratulating them.

As soon as the crowd stopped following her around, she found herself by the shore, watching the sunset, staring unseeingly at her apology. Azure Eye was right. She was a coward. Why had she been hiding away all this time, hoping they would accept her apology when they randomly crossed paths. No, she had to kill her problems at the source. She had to face her past, and make it worth it.

Akiba settled down beside her, and she rolled her sleeve down before she turned towards him, "Yeah? What do you need?"

Akiba was silent for a while before answering, "What do you feel conflicted about?"

Felicity rolled her eyes, "Conflicted about what?"

He deadpanned her.

She smiled bright, fakely, "You're thinking too deep, I'm just tired. When I'm tired, I get all doom and gloom and broody."

"Sounds like depression to me." He commented idly.

She looked away, "No, its totally different."

He turned to her, "How?"

She fidgeted, "Well..."

He just sighed, "Face it. You need a self care day. Or a mental-health day."

She blinked, "A what?"

He gestured wildly, "You know… taking a day off to focus on yourself. Do what you need to do to make yourself feel better."

Felicity laid back into the sand, "Yeah, that would be awesome, but with the tournament coming up…"

She shot back up, "That's it!"

Akiba blinked, "What's it?"

Felicity grinned, "I'm gonna take a mental health week!"

Akiba whistled, "Geez, how many issues do you need to get through?"

Felicity rubbed her arm, "Two years worth."

Akiba hesitated, "Wanna talk about it?"

Felicity shook her head, "No, but now I know what to do."

She packed everything she had. Ghost was in a carrier and was ready to go. Everything was in one bag and a large suitcase. Taiga-shishou had offered to pick her up and drop her at the airport and she had taken him up on it. The only thing left was…

"First Ken, now you, who's gonna leave next?!" Valt yelled as she met up with them outside her house.

Felicity cringed, "Valt! Calm down! You can talk to me online, y'know."

Shu nodded, "Yeah, but all the same, take care."

Felicity grinned at him, "You bet! I'm good at what I do!"

Rantarou ruffled her hair, "Now, now, don't get a big head now that you're ranked second best! After all, it is just second!"

Felicity stuck her tongue out, before turning to Daigo and hugging him, "Take care, you guys!" she waved. "Shu, take care of the Raging Bulls. They can be pretty pushy when they want to be. Rantarou, don't over do it, remember, fight smarter, not harder." Rantarou winked, and Felicity was about to continue, when a horn honked, she turned around to see Taiga-shishou's truck, so she turned back, "Well, that's my ride! Bye, guys!" she ran into the truck and jumped into the shotgun seat, setting her luggage at the back. She waved backwards as they raced afterwards, before settling back into her seat, "This is gonna be a good time." She promised herself.

"**I suppose so…**" Falcon hummed in her silvery voice.

* * *

**Author's Note: So its shorter than usual. And later too. I couldn't find anything good to add on to the end, this was the only one I could think of. Go to my profile there's a poll going on about what I should work on next. And that's about it.**

**Oh, and Please review, and stay home. Bye~! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay, so everything's taking a shift now. A really jarring turn. The reason? Well, I got bored of moving through the original story beat for beat, so I'm cutting loose. The meat of the story is happening now. It's not all bey battles and competitions. In-universe explanation? Seeing Kajuri for the first time in nearly a year reminded her of her friends. Encouraged her to face her fears.**

* * *

Felicity trotted along the streets of New Mexico, utterly lost in memories. She had restocked on all sorts of camping supplies, and had gotten booking at an inn as well, if things went south. She took a bicycle to the woods, and navigated the woods with little difficulty. Until, it was difficult. And she came to a ravine. Felicity cursed as she stopped the cycle and looked at the obstacle from a distance. Beside her, Ghost looked disinterestedly at it, instead, taking off, and circling the skies above. Felicity groaned, "If only I could do that…"

Falcon's musical voice hummed, "Well… you could always use that…"

Felicity blinked, "Use what?" she looked at the sides of the ravine, until she spotted a zipline halfway through, "Huh. Alright…" she whistled, making sure Ghost could know she was moving, before mounting her bicycle again and taking off, taking care to avoid going too close to the sides. It took her about ten minutes to reach it, around which Ghost had returned with a mouse in her powerful claws. She looked at the harnesses attached to it, "I can get across… but what about the cycle? I can't go through this whole forest on foot."

Falcon radiated confusion, "Maybe tie the bike to two harnesses, push it down and hope for the best?"

Felicity shuddered, "And even if it holds, when I go down next, I'll slam straight into it."

"Then use your hands to stop yourself from going too fast" Falcon suggested, "Those welding gloves you use will be great for this."

Felicity tapped her chin, "That… isn't a bad idea, actually."

She pulled out rope from her bag to reinforce the knots that kept the two harnesses on.

She Let out a deep breath, and pushed the bicycle forward, over the edge. There was tense silence as it traversed the slope easily. And Felicity let out a shaky laugh as it bonked on the tree directly in front of it. No lasting damage. Now for the part she had more control over. She tied up her own harness securely. Checked the buckles and zips on her backpack, and pulled on leather gloves. She strapped her BeyTrainer Case to her arm, and stepped off onto thin air, her hands tightly wound to the cable. She moved it forward, slowly, carefully, one hand forward. Two hands forward. Again and again and again, fighting gravity with all her might. Until she slowly slid onto the ground on the other side, where she slowly unbuckled her harness and promptly collapsed breathlessly.

It took her two days to reach the base. Felicity could have cleared it in a shorter time, but she had to conserve the meagre supplies she had been able to pack for the final stretch, instead taking time off the light hours for hunting and fishing. And now she was here. She looked at the base from her perch on a faraway tree, using her Aura Sense, which made her eyes glow in a kaleidoscopic manner. She hummed as she surveyed the mass of moving bonds. A lot of them seemed to be stretched away from each other, like a single signature was being stretched in two different directions. It was obvious that those were the ones who were separated from their bey or blader. Or, well, it was obvious to Falcon, anyway. She had circled the area several times already, making it a point to stay way out of range. She sighed, as she ducked back into her nest. It was a small crevice in a hollow tree, that was barely big enough to hold her backpack and suitcase. Her cycle was parked somewhere behind the tree, covered in vines and a camouflage blanket. Ghost was away, probably hunting. As she sat, she picked up on sounds that carried far and wide in the tranquil forest. She cocked her head as Falcon suddenly whispered, "Felicity, they feel familiar. Maybe you should check them out?"

Felicity nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it."

She crept through the undergrowth, trying to pinpoint the source of the voices. It was hard, but eventually she got it. When one of them screamed, she bolted towards the source, and froze as she stared at the retreating back of Boa Alcazaba. He was staring up at something, rotating to find it, and then suddenly, they were both looking at each other.

Felicity grimaced, "Hi."

Boa's face contorted, "Hi?! That's all you gotta say?! You damn bird shat on my poncho!"

Felicity gaped, before turning skyward, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Perdóname! I'll wash it for you!"

Boa huffed, "Whatever. What're you doing here anyway, turncoat?"

Felicity wrung her ponytail in her hands, "I wanted to say sorry. I was wrong to drag you into this mess with the snakepit. It wasn't fair of me. I pressured you into enrolling. And I'm sorry for running away…"

Boa groaned, "Just shut up and stop saying sorry. I won't listen."

Felicity clenched her fists, "Doesn't mean I'll stop saying it."

Kajuri hesitated, "Now isn't the time, Fliss. We've moved on, so should you."

Felicity glared at him, "How can you say that?! We're friends!"

Kajuri huffed, "Are you sure about that?"

Felicity stared at him, "What're you talking about?"

Boa crossed his arms, "You're the special one. The perfect one. You always win no matter what. You don't need us. If anything, we became dependent on you. And I'm sick of it. I'm gonna beat you, and prove that life isn't perfect!"

Felicity ground her teeth, "You think my life is perfect?!" Her eyes got covered by shadows as she bowed her head. "Sure, I have talent. But I work hard too. All the time. But I'm just human. No matter what others think, I can't just snap my fingers and help everyone. But everyone's depending on me. And I doing want to let anyone down, and I'm trying and trying, but I can't anymore! I just can't! And I especially don't want to let you down!"

She was crying. She realized, as she sunk down, tears dripping down. She sobbed quietly as she lay on the forest floor. And suddenly Boa was holding her up, looking her in the eye, "Pathetic," he mused, "Wipe your eyes. It's harder to hate you when you're bawling on the forest floor." He grinned slightly and Felicity gave a watery smile back, before wrapping him in a tackle hug, so they landed backwards on the floor. Boa groaned, but it seemed mostly amused. It was going to be alright.

As they recovered, they settled back in the ground, talking in low voices. "Can't believe you just up and abandoned your spot in the Japanese National Tournament." Boa groused, "You get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to become the top in two countries and you give it up. You've been getting more impulsive over the years, turncoat."

Felicity huffed, "Shut up, it's for a good cause. I'm here to convince you to defect."

Kajuri gave a sharp grin, "You really should be more subtle about your intentions, you know? Maybe some guilt tripping, psychological torture, luring us away with promises of power and fame."

Felicity quirked a brow, "Is it needed?"

He shrugged, "Obviously not."

Felicity beamed, "So, you're leaving?"

Kajuri nodded, "Of course. But we'll need to be real subtle about it. Take suspicion away from you."

Boa hummed, "I'll stay behind." He announced, continuing before either of them could argue. "Someone has to keep an eye on their activities. Or it'll come bite us in the ass one day. Kajuri will be able to slip out eventually, probably within the week. We can use that to make it appear as if I was attempting to stop you and detain you, but you escaped, since you're stronger than me. " Felicity hesitated, "Are you sure?" She asked.

Boa nodded, "It'll be alright, guys. You got this."

Kajuri nodded, "If you're sure. We'll talk more about this escape route later. Felicity; don't get caught. Better yet, just head to New Mexico. I'll meet you there. We gotta go, before they send someone."

Felicity nodded, and quickly hugged the two of them, before darting away.

The two of them stood up and gathered their piles of wood and carried them back to the base, completely stony-faced.

They entered the base, looking as if nothing had happened outside the base. They dumped the piles of wood and went on their separate ways, moving towards their own next destinations.

Kajuri was still under extreme suspicion, so it was hard for them to converse without them being seen. He stood in front of the stadium, day and night, plowing through blader after blader. And then, finally, his errands list rotated after three days, to night Patrol. One of the others to be part of the night Patrol? Boa Alcazaba. He nodded discreetly as the boy side-eyed him. The next stage was ready.

Kajuri had been shuffled around every job and role possible, and everyone, no matter how weak or how strong or important, had done escort duty at least once. The fastest possible route to the closest airstrip was known the everyone. As he walked away from the assignment board, he could feel a plan coming together.

First, he needed his bey. While he battled a lot, he was usually given other beys, most of them Shadow Beys; monochromatic bey pieces, that were put together to match the beyblades of the challengers who approached the Snakepit. They were alright. His training forced him to be able to use any combination well, but none of them felt like Kraken. His Kraken was kept in one of the R&D labs. He snuck in during his lunch break, calm and collected. He slid towards the pedestal where the Beys under observation were kept. One of the BeyTrainers assigned to this specific lab stared at him suspiciously, "Was there something you need, Azure Eye?"

Kajuri schooled his face into his usual arrogant mask, "Yes, actually. I'm planning on using Kraken for the upcoming Shadow Trials. I need it, if you're done with the new modifications."

The BeyTrainer looked him up and down critically, before handing it over, "It's still unstable, from the readings we're getting. Don't blame us if it bursts randomly."

Kajuri smirked carelessly, "Sure, sure, I know what I'm doing. Nice of you to care, though, techie."

The BeyTrainer huffed, "I couldn't care less if you're thrown into the Tunnel. I just don't want you to make Ashtem think we're to blame as well."

Kajuri let out a hearty cackle as he strode out. Piece of Cake.

The next stage was the most challenging. There were ten people in charge of auxiliary Border Patrol. Eight loyal people, plus him and Boa, patrolling the outermost layers of the Snakepit base. And he was under suspicion too.

It was night, and the Moon's light was the only way they could see. He silently moved from place to place, getting ready for his departure. He made a perfectly normal circuit of the Shadow Blader's custom stadiums; one of the many perks of being a Shadow Blader. He had settled for a fake snowy room, with a freezing lake and a pack of Siberian Huskies. He remembered Felicity and Boa saving up the money for him to have one when he first entered AS Gallus. His dad hasn't let him keep him. He wonders if the club kept Paintbrush after he left. Probably not. He grabbed his bag and silently left his stadium, a cheap facsimile of his homeland. He walked through the hallways silently, keeping his ears open for anyone approaching. Quiet footsteps sounded around the corner, only noticeable due to the complete silence of the base. Kajuri froze, barely daring to breathe as the approaching figure came ever closer to the corner. A bead of sweat slid down from his temple as the agent poked his head around the corner...

Boa stared at Kajuri in a deadpan. The idiot had the gall to smirk toothily at him. Boa just stared him down, and simply mouthed, "Hurry it up." Before passing by him.

Kajuri nodded to himself and set off. Boa lingered behind, scanning for cameras. The two of them couldn't be seen together right now. He snuck a look towards where Kajuri had gone. The teal-haired Shadow Blader had made his way down the corridor, and was now far away enough as to make it plausible that he will not notice Boa sneaking behind him. They played this game of Follow the Leader until the door was in sight. Kajuri moved closer and closer to it. He slowly, deliberately, undid the latch and opened the door, letting moonlight spill in. Boa was in front of him in seconds. "Just where do you think you're going?"

Kajuri looked stonily at Boa, "You wouldn't understand."

Boa scowled, "Defecting, Azure Eye? Knew you were soft for the turncoat."

Kajuri just smirked, "So you do understand. Don't wait up for me, cause I have no plans on returning."

Boa readied his stance, "You're never gonna leave this place alive."

The two looked at each other with understanding in their eyes and Kajuri yanked off his mask, his safe haven, and threw it to the floor, "You sure about that?"

And with that, Boa charged. They scuffled, but it was obvious the Mexican boy with his experience with brawling and handling huge powerful pythons was holding back. Kajuri threw him back, and Boa landed heavily, before Kajuri turned taking and ran, the mask shattering under his feet as he charged. People were rushing down the corridor and Boa cast a frantic look at the approaching guards, before lying prone on the floor, faking unconsciousness.


	23. Kajuri's Escape!

Kajuri ran out of the base after his top speed, and all the back breaking training he had been put through paid off. Within minutes he was halfway to the airstrip, and he was sure there was a bike somewhere there that's he could use to make a quick getaway.

He skidded on the tarmac of the huge open road, casting a glance behind him. The whole place was quiet, with minimal lighting and zero human presence. He took a breath as he wearily trudged to a dark building. It was gonna be fine, as soon as he caught his breath. He looked around the empty buildings, looking for parking lots, any type of vehicle but nobody left a convenient car here. Unluckily for him. He exited the last easily opened building with a dejected sigh, his parka loosely hanging off his shoulders, and sipping on a cold drink he'd found in the mess hall. His state of calm was immediately shattered by roar of a vehicle, and he froze, turning towards the source of the noise before immediately booking it across the base. He ducked behind a warehouse and snuck a peek at his pursuers. There were a couple people riding ATVs. Most of them were wearing the Snakepit's standard uniform, but one of them was obviously a night guard of sorts. At least he looked like it. He couldn't hear everything, but as the roar of the engines was cut, he heard the last part of the conversation, "This is the only way over the ravine unless he has some sort of tight rope walking skills that we never heard about. Search the place."

Kajuri concentrated, leaning forward ever so slightly to hear the night guard say, "The early morning truck, getting all the staff, it's his only way out that we can't completely monitor, but he won't get far without us finding him first."

Kajuri cursed as the squad split up, and ducked into a crate. It wasn't particularly small. But at first glance, no one could think that the Azure Eye, the tall, imposing, arrogant figure would ever fit in it, but he could. Years of hide and seek with two ridiculously over-competitive best friends had trained him for this.

Dawn came, and eventually, the scouts left. He didn't sleep, no matter how much exhaustion pulled at his eyes. Adrenaline was pumping through him, and fear was enough to sustain him for now. He poked his head out when he heard the gunning of a motor. The van was huge, one of those moving van types, and a couple people were unpacking it. It had boxes of supplies inside it and once all the things inside it were brought outside it, all the people went to put the boxes in the warehouses. Kajuri kept his breathing measured, looking side to side, before dashing out into the open for a precious few minutes and jumping into the back of the van, and tucking himself behind a few big boxes. His breath hitched as he heard footsteps, and someone slammed the back of the van shut. A couple seconds of silence, then someone climbed into the front and the engine revved to life. He didn't relax, not until they were out of the premises. Then he allowed himself to breathe.

The next hours were tense, and uncomfortable and he was careful, until the van stopped, and the driver disembarked. He released a breath when the driver didn't return after a couple seconds, and quickly snuck out of the back and looked around. He was in a gas station, probably close to the city. He ducked into the tuck shop, and acted like he was meant to be here, while keeping an eye on the van, never letting his guard down until the van left. Once it was gone, he straightened himself up and left the gas station. There was lots of greenery, but nowhere near as thick as the forest. So they must be near to the city. He just shrugged, and made his way to the front of the gas station store, "Hey, a, man, could you help me? I need to go to New Mexico. Could you point me to the right direction?" He asked the guy, giving his best impression of a lost tourist, which really wasn't that hard. The man nodded immediately, and pointed at a path, "You see that? That path leads straight to New Mexico, just take the right fork. See?"

Kajuri nodded, "Yes, I see. Thank you!" And he was off like a shot, down the path and into the city. Well, not exactly. It took him twenty minutes to reach the city, but still. He walked around a little through the sprawling place, looking for places Felicity might be waiting for him, until it clicked.

The riverside stadium!

He rushed through the crowds, and got turned around multiple times, but by the time the sun was high in the sky, he found the stadium. He stared at the old symbol of his friendship with Felicity and Boa. It had scattered paint cans, some graffiti on the wall. The same empty wooden crates were there, and the pieces of an old bey launcher that he had once broken. He looked at the pictures pasted on the walls. The oldest was all yellow and tattered, but you could make out three kids with bright-colored hair.

The next one was with Felicity wearing a Raging Bulls T-shirt, and Kajuri and Boa with caps and badges of AS Gallus.

He simply looked at the pictures until he heard a voice, "Kajuri!" He turned around immediately. Felicity was already flinging herself at him. He chuckled as he hugged her back, "Hey, Felicity. How you doing?"

Felicity separated and stuck her nose into the air, "I thought you were never gonna come, asshole."

He grinned nervously, "Right, sorry about that. The Snakepit's security is nothing to sneeze at."

Felicity nodded, "Yeah, I know. Thanks for this, by the way."

He cocked his head, "Thanks for what?"

Felicity looked away, "Giving me a second chance."

Kajuri shrugged, "You don't deserve pain. And the fact that it was my pain that was making you hurt? Well, that made me feel like a jerk."

Felicity sighed discontentedly, "Is Boa gonna be leaving the Snakepit anytime soon?"

Kajuri shook his head, "No. He made it clear he was gonna be a double agent for us."

* * *

Turns out, just escaping the Snakepit didn't just do the trick. His years spent there left scars. He was up at the crack of dawn, bed made, everything spotless. Ready for an intense day of training. Before realizing there was no training. He was antsy during the entire flight, looking for agents and hidden threats and muggers. Felicity got him a fidget cube to help with all that nervous energy, but by the time they entered Spanish airspace the poor thing was in pieces. They got plenty of odd looks as they exited the plane, some people even taking pictures of the famous teen blader. The cameras freaked out Kajuri a lot, and he slunk down and tried to hide behind Felicity to stop the cameras from getting him. Felicity cast an eye towards the crowd, "Can we get through? Sorry, no time for pictures. This is important." She wanted them away and the few paparazzi around immediately moved aside, allowing Felicity and Kajuri the make a mad dash through the airport and into the crowds of Barcelona. They paused to grab some Patatas Bravas before going to look for a taxi. The ride back to the farmhouse was the same as ever. When they stepped out to look at the quaint little house at the edge of a lake, Felicity almost burst into tears, "Really takes you back, huh?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." Kajuri replied hoarsely.

Felicity hesitated, "Maybe we should've gone to Canada first. Y'know, see your dad. He'd be happy to see you. After all these years."

"I know." Kajuri said lowly, "I just-I just can't. Not now. I need time. I don't want him to see me like this."

"I get that. Don't sweat it." Felicity reassured him, "I'm here for you."

"Thanks Fliss."

Felicity sighed, her voice taking up a forced cheer, "Alright! Let's go see your room!"

She started running towards the house, Kajuri right on her heels.

The next few days were fun. It was just them, hanging out, helping Kajuri ease himself into normal life. They got street food, watched amateur battles, and watched movies until one day a very familiar RV drove up to the house. Felicity, who had been utterly demolishing a sandwich, whooped loudly and dashed out, "Grandpa Raul!"

The BeyTrainer easily returned the hug she gave him, "Hey, kiddo! You're back from your journey, eh? Heh heh!"

Kajuri greeted him cautiously, "Hello, sir."

Raul swung his arm around Kajuri's neck, "None of that, Kajuri! Great to see you again! Hee hee!"

Kajuri grinned uncertainly, his face turning slightly blue from lack of oxygen before he managed to unhook his arm, "Err... Thank you."

He marched up to the house, "Is breakfast over already? I do love me some home made tostadas, hah ha!"

And so, they ate breakfast together.

* * *

Felicity wrapped her fourth sweater tightly around her. Kajuri was hesitating at the door while they stood outside, ankle deep in snow. "What are you doing?!" She hissed through chattering teeth, "Ring the bell before we die of hypothermia!"

"I'm working on it!" He hissed back, before sighing and jabbing the door bell.

The echo of a bell ringing inside reached their ears, followed by a shout of, "I'm coming!" And pattering footsteps. It was opened by a petite woman with teal hair. She smiled, "Hello, how can I help-" and she froze. Staring at Kajuri's hunched form, "Kajuri?!" She gasped

Kajuri looked up furtively, "Hi, mom."

The woman dashed forward and wrapped him in a hug, "Where were you all these years?! Come in, come in! Tell me everything!" She ordered, ushering both of them inside. They were brought inside the warm house and Felicity let out a sigh of relief as she started taking off her sweaters and hanging them up on the rack. As soon as they were settled into the drawing room with mugs of hot cocoa, the front door slammed open to reveal Kajuri's father. He gasped when he saw Kajuri, "Son, where were you?!" He asked as he wrapped Kajuri in a hug.

"Sorry, dad. I'm so sorry." Kajuri said mournfully.

Felicity coughed awkwardly, as she stood up, "I'll just wait outside, alright?"

They barely paid her any mind as they had their joyful family reunion.

After he was done explaining, they called her back in, "Thank you, for bringing back my son!" Kajuri's mother said tearfully, "I cannot tell you how grateful I am!"

Felicity scratched her head, "It was the right thing to do."

The woman shook her head, "Stay for dinner! It's cold outside!"

And that's how she found herself at the dinner table, awkwardly eating stew. After the meal, as she made to leave, Kajuri stopped her, "I can't thank you enough." He admitted.

Felicity coughed, "You don't have to."

He grinned, "I do, actually. We'll keep in touch, right?"

Felicity nodded, "Obviously. We're friends, after all."

Kajuri smiled back at her, "Yeah. Friends." And held out his hand for a fist bump which Felicity half-heartedly returned. And that was that. Completely bundled up in sweaters and scarves, Felicity gave him a salute and walked away. Kajuri was back where he belonged. Boa had been snapped out of his funk. Everything was as it was... Now she really needed to take a mental health day. Maybe even a mental health week. And she did just that. She settled back into her ordinary routine, fixing beys with her grandpa, and delivering them. Life was good.

* * *

It was just another day. Felicity woke up in the morning, took a shower and blow-dried her hair before heading down for breakfast. A tostada and multiple eggs later, she ducked into the lab, "Hey, Grandpa Raul! I'm doing my delivery run! What do you want me to drop off?"

Grandpa Raul grinned at her, "Haha! You're bright and early! Here! These Beys need to be returned! The addresses are on the boxes." He pointed towards a stack of tiny boxes on the countertop. Felicity nodded and scraped them all into her messenger bag. She pulled the bag on, waved him goodbye and headed into the city. Felicity used to deliver at the town only, which was actually closer to the house, but in the opposite direction of Barcelona. But now, here she was, in the city. She went door to door without any trouble. Putting down her bag for a few moments every time she stopped at a house, until she noticed something different. She froze. And cast a suspicious eye around, her eyes shifting through kaleidoscopic colours before locking down on her target. She immediately gave chase, grabbing the culprit with ease. Kit squealed with laughter as she shook him, "Hey! Let me go!"

Felicity gave him an unimpressed look, "Hand it over, Lopez."

The orange headed boy pouted, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She put a hand on her hip, "Oh yeah? Then how do you explain... This!" And she whipped the launcher out of Kit's pocket.

Kit slumped, "How do you always know?!"he whined.

Felicity tucked the launcher back into her bag, "Magic."

Kit laughed, "There's no such thing as magic!"

Felicity winked, "How do you know?" Before he could answer, her phone started ringing. Felicity grimaced, "Sorry, Kit. I gotta take this."

She looked at the caller ID, which said Theodore Glass. She swore under her breath and clicked accept. "What do you want?" She snapped.

Glass chuckled darkly, "Is that any way to greet your manager?"

"Former manager." She hissed, "Now spill."

Glass replied smoothly, "I wanted to arrange a meeting with you-"

"No dice." Felicity said curtly, "I don't even want to be in the same room as you."

Another dark chuckle. This was getting seriously infuriating. "I'm sure you won't think that when you get here."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked suspiciously.

Another chuckle. "Wouldn't you- **BEEP.**" Felicity hung up on him as he went on a cryptic tangent.

Felicity got a call almost minutes later, this time the caller ID was Boa. She picked up immediately, "What's up?"

Boa's voice was hushed as he whispered, "Something's up."

"I'll say." Felicity replied. "I just got a call from Glass."

A sharp intake of breath, "What did he want?"

Felicity shrugged, "To talk to me face-to-face. I said hell no."

"I dunno." Boa commented, "Maybe ya should've said yes."

"Why would I do that?" Felicity asked.

Boa gulped audibly, "Ashtem's got a new Shadow Blader."

"So? It was bound to happen eventually." Felicity pointed out.

"Felicity." Boa's voice was grave, "The new Shadow Blader. He's Shu Kurenai."


	24. The Chaotic Corruption of Felicity Comas

Felicity marched up to the front desk of the Raging Bulls headquarters as though she was marching to war. People whispered as she walked past, seeming to pick up on her tense mood. She started down the receptionist frostily, "Theodore Glass. Now."

The woman gulped and quickly rang her through and gave her a key card without much fuss. She was led to a conference room silently, where she sat alone for a few minutes until Theodore strutted in, followed closely by a Shadow Blader with red eyes. She curled her lip in distaste. Theodore smirked, "I see that you came. Like I knew you would." he taunted.

Felicity gritted her teeth, "What did you do to Shu?" she asked.

Theodore just grinned, "I didn't do anything, so much as he asked him to."

"No, you didn't. Shu never asked for this. I know him." She denied firmly.

Red Eye looked at her emotionlessly, "There is no Shu here. He is dead. And with him died my weaknesses. There's only me, now. Only Red Eye."

Felicity spun towards Glass, "Change him back!"

He chuckled, "Don't make a bargain yet. You don't know what more I have to offer."

Felicity hesitated, "What more do you have to offer me?"

Glass brought up his hand, "Bring him in boys."

Two men carried in a young boy wearing a poncho and training clothes, he was tied tightly and had a blindfold over his eyes and a cloth in his mouth. Felicity gripped the table harshly, "Boa." She whispered, before turning to Glass and raising her voice, "What are you doing?! Let him go!"

Glass smirked, "Did you really think that I wouldn't notice a mole in my own base?"

Felicity stared him down icily, "Let. Him. Go." She demanded.

Glass grinned, "How about we bargain? I let your friends go. You take up a Shadow Blader mask again."

Felicity bit her lip. She knew it was a trick. It was psychological manipulation. He'd learned from last time. It was so stupid. Yet... Yet... She sighed, "Let me make a phone call. Then we talk."

He growled impatiently and pulled out a phone and switched it to the dial pad. "I'm watching you." He threatened.

"Creepy." Felicity shot back, trying to keep a brave face. She dialed Kajuri, who picked up immediately, "Hey. Where are you?" She asked.

"Canada. Where else?" He easily replied, sensing the urgency.

She nodded, "Alright. Here's what I need you to do; get to NYC, ASAP."

"Why?" Came the cautious reply,

"Boa's been compromised." She informed him, "So is a friend of mine. I'm going into deep cover. You and Boa deal with Shu."

"Shu? Like Shu Kurenai?!" He asked.

"One and only." Felicity confirmed, "How long will it take you?"

"Be there tomorrow." And then the line cut.

Felicity handed back the phone, "No deal until Kajuri picks up Shu and Boa tomorrow."

Glass nodded, "Understood. Pleasure doing business with you."

* * *

And that was that. She hung around the building, well aware of press snapping photos of her, and watched like a hawk for Kajuri. Shu was standing in his Red Eye gear while Boa was wearing his ordinary clothes, looking around warily. A teal haired figure ducked inside, looking around cautiously and waving over Shu and Boa. Boa started dragging Red Eye out of the building with a resigned face.

Once they were out of the building, she turned back to Glass, who was holding a mask, this one with clear lenses. She took one last look at the outer world, before following Glass to an empty training room, with only a single stadium. On the other side of the stadium was a remote electronic launcher. She took out Flash Falcon, that was glowing and humming ever so slightly, and added the black Force disk that she had recovered from the Requiem project. Glass watched as she crouched, and the countdown started. 3. 2. 1. Rip.

The defense type hit the center of the stadium with complete accuracy, and Falcon zipped in for the attack, humming harshly. Felicity's eyes were cold as she announced, "Aura launch." And when the two made contact a flash of light encompassed them all.

Felicity found herself in her Aura field. Complete whiteness, with streaks of red and blue and green marring it. Except now, it was splattered with ink. The jagged smile of her favorite hoodie had bled onto her Aura field, and it was growing, infecting her special place. Behind her, her Bey's avatar was struggling, as a web of black coated her. The magnificent Falcon was weighed down by oil. And it hurt her very soul. She cringed as the falcon writhed, and rushed forward to help, but found her path blocked by a girl. She looked almost exactly like Felicity, but her eyes had a sharp look, betrayed by the cataracts smoking up her eyes. Her eyes were shattered, each shard a different color, and she was wearing ordinary Snakepit training clothes that were shredded at the sides. Scars twisted up her right arm, as though it had been ripped apart by eagles. "You're not going anywhere." She snarled.

Felicity glared at her, "Who're you?"

She smirked, "I am you. The part you wish never existed. You ran away from me in that project. Now you come running back. Why?"

Felicity scoffed, "I don't need you. I'm being forced to use you."

Corrupt her just grinned. "But you need me all the same." While Felicity tried to build a defense, she smirked, "I got an idea. How bout I do all the heavy lifting for you? Bet you're gonna be glad to not do all the work."

Felicity growled, "No way! Hands off of my body!"

But no. It didn't work. When she was dragged out of the Aura field, it was like someone else was controlling her movements, while she stood here helpless. Felicity watched as she turned towards Ashtem with a savage smile, "How was that?"

Ashtem smiled coldly, handing her the mask, "Welcome back, Mirror Eye."

* * *

In another part of New York, Kajuri and Boa had dragged Red Eye to a hotel room. Now, they were just looking back and forth from each other awkwardly. Red Eye was just stoic. "So..." Boa started awkwardly, "You're seriously the one and only Shu Kurenai?"

Red Eye fixed him with a glare, "There is no more Shu Kurenai. There is only Red Eye."

"Wow. You're really weird." Boa commented, "How did Felicity even get you to abandon ship?"

Red Eye growled, "I am here not for the brunette. But because Ashtem ordered me to leave."

"Why are you still in minion mode if you've been told to cut ties with the Snakepit?" Kajuri asked.

Red Eye answered stoically, "Ashtem promised me power. He has the path to power. If I follow his commands, I will obtain power."

"I think he's lost it." Boa decided. "He sounds like a brainwashed puppet."

Kajuri sighed, "Why did Felicity want us to help him so much?"

Boa shrugged, "I dunno. Guess they were friends."

Kajuri pinched the bridge of his nose, "How do we figure out what is wrong with him?"

Boa shrugged again, "I dunno. Maybe we should ask him?" Before Kajuri could respond, he turned to where Red Eye was still sitting in his chair, "Hey! Do you have any idea why you're acting so cray-cray?"

His answer was... Weird, "I have been given treatment. To become the best blader of all time. Any unnecessary traits will be eradicated."

Boa facepalmed, "Oh my God. They've upgraded to brainwash now."

Kajuri sighed, "We need to get him to a different place. We can't just try and fix him in a hotel room. Got any ideas?"

Boa pressed his index fingers together, "Well.. You know how my parents study snakes?"

Kajuri nodded, "Yeah, so what?"

Boa grinned, "So! They have a couple of empty sheds they never go into anyways and it'll be pretty easy to keep him there, no?"

Kajuri nodded, "I mean, probably? But what if he starts screaming... Or tries to escape or something?"

Boa looked at him, "It's a shed made for handling snakes in piece and quiet. It's insulted against sound. Some sort of egg box structure in the walls. It's secure. It's remote. And he's not screaming now, is he?"

Kajuri hummed as he stroked his chin, "Alright. Fine. It seems stupid, but let's give this a shot. Not like we have anywhere better to use."

* * *

Felicity watched as she went through the motions. Working herself to the bone. Eating. Sleeping. Training. More training. More training. Repeat. She was tested on. Experimented on. She was reliving her worst nightmare. And she knew she could snatch power back from this dark version of her easily. Except something always held her back. The promise that Shu and Boa would be safe if she stayed. It stopped her from trying to escape. Mind you, it would've been hard to escape as it was. She was watched carefully, guarded and watched constantly, and kept in isolation. They would not allow more defectors. It was the same routine. Over and over again. It was a wonder she didn't go crazy. When she slept, she saw her Aura Field. It was a churning mass of grey, black and white, with light accents of green and red. A swirling mass of texture.

* * *

In the exact same country, several miles away, was another duo, with a slightly different dilemma. So, Red Eye had followed them into the plane, no problems. Things were looking good, until Red Eye overheard them talking bad about the Snakepit. Things had gone downhill from there.

"TAKE IT BACK! ASHTEM IS THE KINDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD!" Red Eye screeched banging against the door.

Boa held the door close, bracing his entire body against it, "Yeah, yeah we get it! Jeez dude, calm down!" He called out.

Kajuri grimaced, "It isn't working. Once he's tired out, we'll have to tie him up."

Boa wheezed for air, "I think you mean if. We've been doing this for nearly an hour. How stubborn can a guy be?"

Kajuri pushed against the door, "Well, admit it. I was right about the whole choosing remote area thing. Now at least someone won't accidentally find out."

Boa grunted as Red Eye threw himself at the door once more, "That's what you're focusing on, right now?"

Kajuri shrugged, "Well, we need to make up for lost time."

"Unbelievable." Boa muttered, but he was still grinning.

It took basically forever, but eventually the lack of food and water made Red Eye tired of banging on the door. Boa and Kajuri entered in cautiously, with Kajuri holding a baseball bat in defense, to find Red Eye heaving wearily on the floor. Boa struck fast, immediately grabbing his wrists and pinning him down, making it easier for him to tie down. Red Eye was too tired to resist. The two heaved him up to a chair and tied him to it. He shot them a death glare, but made no move to oppose them. Kajuri dusted off his hands, "Now that's over with, will you just listen?"

"Fine." Red Eye bit out, hoarsely, "What do you want?"

Boa tapped his chin, "You have to stay here. Don't try to escape or anything. We're watching you. In return, you'll get food, water, and a shrink, until we figure out what's wrong with you."

"Nothing's wrong with me! I've ascended the ordinary blader. I am now perfect. And none of you can understand that!" Red Eye protested.

Kajuri patted his shoulder in false sympathy, "Yeah, whatever, buddy. If you say so."

God... This kid needed professional help.

* * *

In another part of the world, two young bladers, new to the world stage, were celebrating BC Sol's entry into the world league. Well, they were. Until they received a call.

"Hey, Wakiya! What's up?" Valt asked.

"Valt. Rantarou. I haven't missed you two one bit." Wakiya bit back, "I'm only calling because... Have any of you heard from Shu or Felicity in a while?"

"No." Rantarou said, "Why? They're both pretty stuck up as it is."

Wakiya sighed, "Well, dumbass, maybe you haven't heard, but they just dropped off of the face of the earth."

* * *

**So, Wakiya wanted a rematch. But he didn't get one. Because Felicity's gone crazy.**  
**So, her corrupt self taking over her body? That's symbolic. She's not schizophrenic or anything. She is the corrupt one. It'll be discussed. But ignore it for now.**

**So, I know what you're thinking; "This is insane. The timeline doesn't match up."**  
**I did actual research into it. The whole Kajuri returning to the Snakepit, then getting out took a month and a half. Then, his time spent with Felicity took another month. Then he returned home, and Felicity stayed there for nearly a fortnight, before returning back to her regular life in Spain. That's nearly four months until she gets the call. I've done the math, and there is a chance that it'll work out for the story**


	25. Beginning of Season 2

Valt and Rantarou charged onto the jet as soon as the doors opened. Valt looked at Wakiya, literally inches from him face, spittle flying as he shouted, "You gotta tell us what's going on!"

Wakiya grimaced, shielding his face, "Stop it! You're slobbering everywhere!"

As Valt grinned apologetically as Daigo dragged him back, "Sit down. We're about to be debriefed as soon as the jet has taken off properly." He instructed.

The two nodded and obediently buckled in. After the jet was in the air, and they were allowed to remove their seatbelts, Wakiya stood up, a screen whirring to life behind him, "So, Shu was in the Raging Bulls last time I checked. He's been on a crazy winning spree since he started out on the world scene. Felicity... Was harder to track. But also easier. There is a huge international fanbase for her. Even though I don't why. They are pictures of her from all over the world. Canada, Spain, Mexico, Japan, USA. So she could be basically anywhere, except..." He pulled out a picture of a newspaper clip that had a picture of Felicity holding a mask and the headline, "**World class Blader rejoining the Raging Bulls**?"

"Look familiar?"

Daigo's eyes sharpened, "That Azure Eye guy had a similar mask."

Valt blinked, "What Azure Eye guy?"

Rantarou sighed, "From the island Royale, Valt!"

Valt grinned, "Oh, right, he looks kinda familiar!"

Wakiya nodded, "So, I had private detectives look into this, and they all agree that the most likely place they could be is at a training grounds in Mexico. In fact, there's a 300% chance that Shu and Felicity are there."

Rantarou snorted, "Are you serious? 300% is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Did you miss maths class?"

"Don't start this now, you two." Daigo sighed. "Look, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get Fliss and Shu back."

The two nodded, sighing. Wakiya huffed, "Alright. We're about to land in Mexico City. You should get ready."

The four nodded, scrambling to get their possessions together.

The plane started to decline, making a smooth landing, before opening the doors. The four quickly disembarked, into the hot sun.

"Oh my God, I think I'm melting." Rantarou complained.

Daigo was already slathering sunscreen on his face, "Yeah, no kidding."

Valt was already looking around wildly, "So where do we start? Is the Snakepit around here or something?"

"Don't be an idiot." Wakiya huffed, "Why would the Snakepit be here? It'll be somewhere in the woods. I'm gonna look over the footage from our flight here for any hints."

"So what do we do?" Daigo asked.

Wakiya waved them away, "Just explore or something. But stay out of trouble, please."

Valt saluted, "You got it! C'mon, guys, I smell food!"

He raced away, followed closely by Rantarou, with Daigo trailing behind the two.

Mexico was alright, he supposed. He wished Akiba was here, but he had ducked out, saying something about a paid position on a club.

After Felicity had made a hasty retreat home, Daigo had time to contemplate. He got asked to join AS Gallus by the boy he'd beaten at the Royale, and quickly rose through the ranks to team captain. It was all good. Especially when he had won against Valt in the European league. Felicity had spared nothing in making Deathsizor, and he was his best companion. He had meant to keep in contact with her, but she never picked up, nor responded to his texts.

Shu was a more casual acquaintance, someone who he knew and acknowledged. He had helped him a lot in getting used to the new Deathsizor, and he would never forget that. And now, he was gonna find them.

As, he stood and brooded as he watched Valt and Rantarou talk to the boy from the German team, a boy suddenly sidled up beside him, carrying a stack of books, "Hey! Is this bench taken?" He asked, referring to the bench Daigo was standing next to.

Daigo cast a glance at the boy, who looked vaguely familiar, "No. Go ahead."

The boy immediately set down his books, shoving them into his more manageable backpack, "Hey, thanks!" He grinned, taking a close look at Daigo, "Woah, you're Daigo Kurogami! From AS Gallus!"

Daigo nodded, "That's me. You a fan?"

The boy, who was still frustratingly familiar shook his head, "Not exactly. I used to play for the AS Gallus before. Glad to see that it picked itself out of its slump."

And then it clicked, "You're Boa Alcazaba." He was in some of the pictures in the AS Gallus HQ. One of the best bladers they had ever got before Daigo. He and Kajuri had become legends in the club before vanishing.

The boy now confirmed to be Boa blinked, "Woah, you know my name. That is so creepy."

He coughed, "Everyone from last year's lineup of AS Gallus talks about you. How you're legends."

Boa nodded, "That's cool. So what're you doing here?"

Daigo looked at where Valt and Rantarou were with the Ackerman boy, "We're looking for a friend of mine. Shu Kurenai. We don't really know where he is so we're checking out this place called the Snakepit."

Boa smiled at him, "Well, good luck I guess."

He nodded, "Thanks." And watched the boy make a run for it. What a weird kid.

Suddenly, Wakiya walked out, "Hey guys! We have found a location in the jungle for the Snakepit! Get in!"

Valt and Rantarou dashed into the plane, followed by Cuza, who was immediately stopped by Wakiya, "Who let the circus monkey in here?"

Cuza scowled, "I'm not a circus monkey! I wanna help you find your friends!"

Valt jumped to his defense, "Yeah! He really knows what he's doing! Please let him stay, Wakiya!"

Rantarou nodded, "_Please!_" And all three made puppy eyes. Daigo and Wakiya sweatdropped.

"Ugh, fine!" Wakiya snapped, "But that bird better not get the seats dirty."

Cuza saluted, "You can count on it! Karl is very well trained!"

Karl followed it up with, "Well trained!"

Wakiya scowled, "It better not do this the whole way, or I will personally murder it."

Daigo sighed, this was gonna be a long flight.

* * *

Boa sprinted into the safe house, where Kajuri was reading through hypnosis and psychology books. He looked up when Boa came in, "Did you get the books?"

Boa nodded, placing the bag down. "Everything on my list. Also I bring some unfortunate news."

Kajuri quirked a brow, "What news?"

Boa toed the ground, "Shu's friends have figured out he's missing. They're going to the Snakepit to look for him."

Kajuri glanced at the room where they had kept Red Eye, "They're going on a wild goose chase, though."

Boa nodded, "Yeah. They could be brainwashed too. Or killed."

Kajuri jolted up, "They don't do that anymore, right?"

Boa shrugged, "I've never seen them do it, but you never know."

Kajuri gulped, "We'll need to keep an eye on these guys. Where are they?"

Boa looked up, "Currently flying to their destination in a private jet."

Kajuri made a face, "They'll have adults with them, then. That'll make it fine."

Boa nodded, "Alright. Cool. But we should totally get started on Shu's unconditioning, right? I mean, if this goes on any longer they might get the police to start an investigation. And this face is not meant to go to juvenile detention. Ever."

Kajuri nodded, "Fine. I've looked through this. I've got a vague idea of what we're doing. Now, let's just hope we can pull this off."

* * *

The group landed at the airstrip and made their way through the jungle fairly quickly. It was ridiculously hot, and all of them were very sweaty by the time that it was done and they had reached the pyramid structure. The place looked mostly abandoned, with nothing there if importance. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Cuza asked.

Wakiya growled, "Of course this is the right place! Where else would this be?"

Cuza sweatdropped uneasily, "Sorry! I mean there's nothing here is there?"

Wakiya pouted, "Look around! There's gotta be something here!"

Just as he spoke, a voice rang out, "Trespassers aren't allowed. What is your purpose?"

They all spun around to look at the figure, leaning on the side of the structure. She had on a black and red mask, with clear eyepieces. Short choppy brown hair stuck up irregularly, and she wore a white trench coat with orange accents and no sleeves over a plain black shirt and tactical dark green pants. Her left hand was covered with a long glove, that reached up to her elbow, while the other was bare. She seemed to exude an aura of power in her sharp actions. They stared at her in shock, as she glared at them, "Do you have no purpose?!"

Wakiya jolted, "We're looking for two friends of ours. Felicity Comas and Shu Kurenai. I trust you've heard of him?"

The girl in the mask crossed her arms, grinning sharply, "The Kurenai boy escaped. Weeks ago he fled the place. We haven't heard of him since then."

Wakiya narrowed his eyes, "What about the girl? Felicity Comas?"

The grin was wiped off, replaced with a snarl instead, "Felicity Comas is no more. She is dead. That is the fate for all traitors."

There was a quick intake of breaths, then Valt yelled out, "It's not true! How dare you! Felicity would never die that easily!"

The girl repeated stiffly, "She's dead. She no longer exists. I don't know what childish beliefs you have of her, but they are wrong. She is not infallible. The girl was as delicate as the rest of us. She is dead, and her death will lead to the greatness of the Snakepit."

Rantarou spoke up next, "And who the hell are you? Bossing us around like you're better than us?"

The girl looked down her nose at them, "My name is Mirror Eye." She said snidely, "And I **am** better than you."

Valt growled, "That's so not true! Let's go, me and you! I'll kick your ass with Valtryek here!"

Mirror Eye sneered at him, before holding up an eerily familiar bey, "My Virus Falcon will cut you down before you land."

Daigo stared. Stunned. That bey... It looked exactly like Felicity's Falcon. Except, that Falcon was one of a kind. There were no others. And this one, something was off about it. There was another disk there. And it was pitch black, a startling difference from the mostly monochromatic bey. He stared at the way she was holding the bey, tilted to it's side, so you could get a look at it's other workings too. He had only see one other person hold a bey like that. Could it be...?

The sight of the modified bey enraged Valt even more, "Hey! That's not yours! Give it back! It belongs to Felicity Comas!"

He made to lunge at Mirror Eye, but the others held him back. This seemed to amuse the her, since she smirked, "Wow... A spitfire. That's rare." She nodded towards a bey stadium that was set up on the side, "How about you put your bey where your mouth is and let's go a few rounds? If I win, you leave here forever."

Valt grinned savagely, "Now we're talking! And if I win, you'll give us back Falcon, alright?!"

Mirror Eye smirked, "Sure. But you won't win."

They both pulled out their launchers, and took positions on opposite sides of the arena. 3! 2! 1! Let it... Rip!

The two beys zipped out, Falcon almost clipping the side of Valtryek, but missing by centimeters. Valt smirked, and looked up, and froze when he saw her blue eyepieces, "Weren't those just clear?" He yelped.

Rantarou gasped, "Yeah! How'd she do that?"

Daigo bit the inside of his cheek, mind already running through calculations. He didn't want to admit it, but it looked like it really was...

Falcon burst through Valtryek easily. She smirked as Valt gaped in shock. "Not so tough now? It's always the nail that sticks out the most that gets beaten down."

Valt took a deep breath, "Oh yeah! Well, I'm not done yet! We're going to find them! Even if it's the last thing I do!"

Mirror Eye was about to reply when she froze up. Her head tilted just sideways as though she was listening to someone in an earpiece. When she spoke next, it was flat, quiet, "Ashtem had agreed to test you. To see if are worth bothering about."

Rantarou nodded, "Hell yeah, we're worth bothering about! You better watch out."

The door of the structure opened, and out stepped two other masked bladers. One of them had silver tinted lenses and he looked at Mirror Eye with disappointment, "Really, Mirror? This is how you treat visitors?" Mirror Eye hung her head, but the other was already moving on, "My name is Silver Eye. And I've been sent to guide you through your trials. Come along now!"

The rest of them shuffled into the base, but Daigo held back, watching Mirror Eye be taken away by the other masked blader. He didn't want to believe it, but his suspicions kept nagging him. "Are you coming?" Silver Eye asked, pulling him out of his thoughts,

"Yeah, sorry." Daigo replied, hurrying after him. His suspicions will have to wait...


End file.
